


Imitating Love

by Diana_Zephyr



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Angst, Canon Typical Violence, Fluff, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, Humor, M/M, Mutual Pining, Rated M cause Pidge says fuck, Shape Shifters, klance, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2018-12-23 17:50:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11994906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diana_Zephyr/pseuds/Diana_Zephyr
Summary: Something was wrong with Lance.It was like Lance wasn’t…Lance? Keith couldn’t explain it.Keith knew to listen to his instincts, and he wouldn’t rest until he got answers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~ So this is my first fanfic, but it is not my first time writing. I can't guarantee how good this story will be, but I tried really hard. I know, a lot of firsts. Anyways I'm done, please enjoy!!

Something was wrong with Lance.

Keith could tell after 5 long years of defending the universe together. Also…..maybe….falling in love with the afore mentioned boy…..not that that meant anything!

Keith didn’t have a chance, so he decided that he would just stay friends. Even if they could never be romantically involved, he still wanted to be a part of Lance’s life. Without meaning to, Lance and Keith had become best friends. They could depend on each other for anything, and their teamwork had become flawless over the years.

So Keith was pretty confident that when he said something was wrong, there really was something going on. There was only one problem, no one believed him!

It was like Lance wasn’t…Lance? He couldn’t explain it. Lance’s voice, appearance, and mannerisms were the same, but something was off.

He was the red paladin, and one of his most well known qualities was that he listened to his instincts. Keith had a bad feeling about Lance, and he wouldn’t rest until he got answers.

 ** _~~1 day earlier~~_** **(I write flashbacks without dialogue)**

_Keith’s POV_

They had finished a routine mission, on a routine planet, doing the exact same thing they had been doing for the past 5 years. Keith had always hated this part of being a paladin, so he just sat back and kept his mouth shut.

He opted to be more of a bodyguard, rather than play the part of a diplomat, having become an even better at fighter than Shiro. His social skills hadn’t gotten any better; in fact being on board with the same people for years had made them worse, if that was even possible.

Keith was bored of routine. They had finally defeated Prince Lotor, Haggar, and even her druids, leaving no real leader for the Galra. Some higher ranked officers tried to take the position, but that just ended up in them killing each other off. Team Voltron’s mission was now to help rid the universe of the Galra’s influence. They had created an alliance out of any race they could find, hoping to prevent another Empire from ever springing up again.

Many personal agendas had also been solved over the years. Pidge had succeeded in finding her father and brother, Matt, and they too were now proud members of Team Voltron. Allura, sadly, had gotten conformation that she and Coran were the last Alteans left. After Shiro was found, he resumed control of the black lion, and Allura gave blue back to Lance. Lance finally found his ‘thing’, he really did become the team’s sharpshooter, and even Keith couldn’t come close to his skills.

Unfortunately, Keith’s wish of getting out of routine was granted in the form of an attack. It had all started while everyone was in the process of getting in their lions.

The five had split, everyone ready to take a breather back on the castle-ship. The happy silence was broken by a loud rustle, and Shiro’s commanding voice coming over their comms. He warned that they were under attack by an alien race.

This specific race was not the one they had just signed an alliance with, thankfully. Keith had seen some weird ass aliens during his time in space, but he’d never quite seen some similar to these. Their attackers were amorphous, see-through, liquid-like aliens.

Their weapons were quickly found useless on the beings. Keith could slash all he wanted to, but his bayard just swept right through them, leaving no visible damage. Though this meant the aliens were also unable to harm the paladins. With a yelp of pain from Shiro, the team had learned what the alien’s true abilities were.

Before their eyes, the paladins watched the alien turn itself into an exact copy of Shiro. Everyone was speechless. Every detail of their leader was identical, down to the bleeding wound on his wrist.

Keith was the first to jump into action, but the doppelganger was too quick. It pulled Shiro into the near by foliage, making Keith lose sight of them.

They both emerged soon after, but now the paladins couldn’t tell who the real Shiro was anymore. That must have been it’s plan all along. These aliens sure were intelligent, but what was their goal? Keith’s guess is that they wanted to steal the lions for themselves.

Without their leader, the paladins looked to their second in command for answers. An idea formed in Keith’s head, and he whispered it to the others. They could move pretty freely, seeing as the aliens weren’t attacking them, only blocking their escape.

Keith was going to let the black lion do the work. She would know who her paladin was, only one of them was bonded with her. Feeling confident, he ordered both Shiros to approach black one at a time.

Sensing the attackers, black had put her shield up, protecting herself. The first Shiro approached her, but she didn’t budge. The shield stayed in place, and with one well placed warning shot from Lance, the copycat Shiro fled into the surrounding forest. The rest of the aliens followed soon after.

Shiro slapped Keith on the back, proud of the leader he was turning out to be. Keith quickly decided that he was more than okay with routine.

Though unbeknownst to anyone, a willful stowaway accompanied them back to the castle.

**_\--night time back at the castle—_ **

_Lance’s POV_

Lance sighed while walking down the darkened hallway of the castle-ship, a pillow and blanket in hand. He had developed severe insomnia over the years, making it nearly impossible for him to sleep in his own room. Though, with a lot of trial and error he had discovered an odd process that allowed him to get a decent night’s sleep. He would take a walk around the large ship until he felt tired, and then he’d curl up and sleep wherever he stopped.

It did sound weird, and seem like more work than it was worth, but it had never failed. Being able to get a full night’s sleep was more than enough motivation for him to continue doing it every night.

His ‘process’, as he liked to call it, had him spending the night in some of the weirdest places on the ship. In doing so, Lance had gained the ability to fall sleep _anywhere_. After he settled down in a random spot, he always woke up a few hours later, no matter what. So he would pack up, and make the trek back to his room. He would pass out as soon as his head hit the pillow, and not wake up until his morning alarm went off.

No one had discovered his odd sleeping habits, and he didn’t plan on telling anyone. They had enough to worry about, and Lance refused to become a burden. Though, he had gotten caught a few times over the years; each time he escaped suspicion by saying he needed a glass of water or a midnight snack, all the while hiding his pillow behind his back.

He was currently on one of those walks, now reaching blue’s hanger. He always made an effort go see her, it had helped them bond. He walked up to her with a yawn, affectionately patting her paw. He felt a positive response resonate through his body. With a smile, he waved her goodnight and continued aimlessly walking.

He had only taken a few steps away when it happened. A warning from blue sounded in his mind as a burning pain erupted in his right shoulder. He let out a shrill scream, at a pitch he would deny ever came from his mouth. Dropping his makeshift bed, he clutched his shoulder and turned around.

His eyes widened as they landed on one of the aliens from today’s earlier encounter. It was in mid transformation, and Lance realized that his bayard was still in his room. He had no idea if he could injure the copycat in its transformed state, but he wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

While it was busy, Lance began running to his room at full speed. He wondered what it wanted. It had bitten him, so did that mean it was dangerous? It couldn’t steal the lions, that was established with Shiro’s doppelganger. What could its true purpose be?

Lance hadn’t noticed how close he was to his room, until he nearly ran into the door. He foolishly believed that he could handle the situation on his own, and didn’t attempt to wake the others.

He placed his hand on the scanner, and opened his door. His eyes landed on his bayard as two hands came from behind him, one covering his mouth and the other blocking his vision. At the first moment of contact, he suddenly lost control of his body. He blacked out, falling into the arms of this doppelganger.

**_\---morning on the castle-ship---_ **

_Lance’s POV_

Lance opened his eyes with a groan, imagining that this must be what it felt like to be hit by a car. Lance blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust to the lights in his room. They brightened and dimmed according to the paladin’s circadian rhythm, thanks to Coran help.

The events of the night before came rushing back to Lance’s mind. His eyes snapped open, and he sat up quickly, only to find that he couldn’t move.

Panic began to overtake him as he looked down to the ropes constricting his movement. His hands were tied together in front of him, and more rope was wound around his chest, keeping his arms in place. There was also rope tied around his knees and feet, putting his mobility at near zero.

After a minuet of panic induced wiggling, Lance realized he could just scream for help. Though as soon as he opened his mouth, his doppelganger confidently walked out of the bathroom.

Lance narrowed his eyes at the alien. “What do you want? What is your purpose on this ship!?” He sent a menacing barrage of questions at the alien.

Watching Lance’s own face raise his eyebrows at him was discomforting to say the least. His clone raised his hands in mock defense, “I beg patience of you. I mean no harm to you or your fellow paladins.”

Lance scrunched up his face at the sound of his voice. _Is that what I really sound like? Gosh, how can anyone stand to listen to me?_ Realizing there were more important things at hand, he cleared his mind of the thought.

“Oh really?” He asked, voice dripping in sarcasm, “Then why am I tied up?”

His copy ran his hand down his face. “Blue paladin please be still, and let me explain.”

Lance raised a curious eyebrow. “I’m waiting.”

His copy knelt on the floor, next to Lance. “I am of a race of shape shifters-“

“I figured as much.” Lance said, cutting his copy off. A small glare was thrown his way, but he then continued.

“As I was saying, I am of the Imito, the race of imitators. The Imito can transform into anything, as long as we are able to get some of it’s….essence, for lack of a better word in your language. In a human’s case I need some of your blood.”

The Imito paused, sensing that Lance wanted speak. “Okay that explains why you bit me, but that doesn’t explain why you ‘imitated’ me in the first place.”

The Imito blushed a bit, and rubbed the back of its neck. “There is no easy way to say this…um…”

“Well just say it then.” Lance commanded, impatiently.

“The Imito are unable to reproduce with its own race, the Imito must imitate a species and…mate…..” It finished, uneasy.

“Wait….so you wanna do the…do…with some—someone on the ship?!” Lance screeched.

The Imito nodded slowly.

“Well I’m sorry dude, but no one on this ship wants to….um… _mate_ …with me….” Lance finished, doing his best to hide the disappointment in his voice.

Sure no one wanted a relationship with him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t pining his ass off for a certain mullet. Sure he and Keith had become closer than he ever thought possible, but he wasn’t right for someone like Keith. He and Keith were just so different. Lance knew the saying that opposites attract, but they were just _too_ opposite.

The Imito softly shook its head at the blue paladins thoughts, the poor thing didn’t know. As long as it contained some of Lance’s blood they were connected, so the Imito could sense feelings and thoughts to some extent. The Imito even had limited access to memories, allowing him to effectively copy Lance’s personality. It had to learn not only about Lance, but about Earth’s culture as well. Not that he would tell Lance any of this, the Imito felt it was on thin enough ice already.

“Well I’ll just have to work a bit harder then.” The Imito answered vaguely.

“So now that I know you aren’t a threat, can you untie me? I promise I won’t attack you.” Lance did his best to persuade the Imito, very uncomfortable in his current state.

The Imito crossed the room, retrieving a cloth. “I do apologize Lance, but my race is dying. I can not risk failure.”

Lance opened his mouth to retaliate, but the Imito quickly placed the cloth into Lance’s mouth. Startled, Lance’s eyes went wide, as he realized he could no longer call for help. He made muffled pleas, as the Imito tied the cloth behind his head.

“I truly am sorry, but I must do this. As a sign of trust, I will tell you my race’s only weakness. Anything that happens to your body happens to mine, if you get injured, I do too. Though if I am injured, nothing will happen to you.”

Realizing the trust the Imito just placed in him, Lance simply nods. The Imito confirmed his suspicion that while transformed the Imito can be injured or killed, without hurting the one they are imitating.

He felt the Imito truly meant no harm, but Lance didn’t feel any happier about his situation. If the Imito did succeed on it’s…mission…then his relationship with someone could be ruined. Even after explaining it was a shape shifting alien, providing they believe him, it still meant they did the do thinking it was him. He’d never have another normal conversation with whoever the alien chose.

Sensing Lance’s rebellious thoughts, the Imito tapped his forehead lightly. “Sleep.” Unable to resist, Lance was lulled into a deep, peaceful slumber.

“Now,” The Imtio said, smirking as it approached the door, “Let’s begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do have a Tumblr if anyone would like to talk or ask questions!!
> 
> @dianazephyr


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well....this chapter turned out to be a LOT darker than I was expecting. I'm just gonna apologize for the sadness right now.

**_\---The same morning on the castle-ship---_ **

_Keith’s POV_

Keith let out a low groan as he opened his eyes. He dreaded slow mornings; it meant he had to get up with no motivation. If he woke up to a ship wide alert, or they had an early meeting to attend, then he was up and ready to go. As of right now, he wanted nothing more than to just die.                                                                                               

After a few minutes of hating the universe, he begrudgingly dragged himself out of bed. Due to  his brain being half asleep, Keith was forced to complete his morning routine by muscle memory.

One look in the mirror and Keith could that his hair had no intention of working with him today, so he just gave up. Grabbing his jacket, he walked out the door with a yawn.

He dragged his feet down the long hallway, making his way to the kitchen for breakfast. He wondered what the day was going to be like, because there wasn’t anything scheduled that he knew of. He decided it would probably be spent like most of his days--training.

As he passed the other paladin’s rooms, Lance’s door opened. The blue paladin smiled, and  silently fell in step beside him. Keith greeted him with a wave, yawning once more.

“Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” Lance smirked, ruffling the raven’s hair.

Keith slapped his hands away, letting out a grumpy mumble. He could feel the blush already rising to his face, and all Lance did was touch his hair. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take much from Lance to make Keith act like a love sick girl. God help Keith if Lance decided to jokingly flirt with him, which happened more than you would think.

“Aww don’t be like that.” Lance pouted. Keith refused to embarrass himself any further, so he kept his mouth shut. “I’m sorry Keithy, you’re just so cute that I couldn’t resist.”

Keith swears that he felt his heart stop. By now his face practically glowed with how much he was blushing. Turning to Lance, wide-eyed, he began sputtering to find a response. Lance probably thought he resembled a fish, how he kept opening and closing his mouth.

Unable to find a suitable response, Keith sent his a pointed glare and made a strangled noise in the back of his throat.

Keith was wide awake now, and did his best to speed walk the rest of the way to the kitchen. Lance stayed on his heels, laughing the whole way.

Reaching the kitchen, the pair saw some of the ship’s inhabitants mulling around as well. Seeing Lance’s triumphant smirk and Keith’s red face, Pidge shot a knowing look to Hunk. He let out a hearty laugh, shaking his head at their antics.

The entire ship knew that the two idiots liked each other, save for the two idiots in question. It was painful to watch the two constantly dance around each other day in and day out, but Shiro had made them all promise not to intervene. Even Matt and Dr. Holt caught on quickly, despite their late introduction to Team Voltron.

“Hey Keith are you okay? Gotta cold?” Pidge said through barely contained laughter, raising her eyebrows repeatedly at Keith.

Keith made a face at her, truly regretting telling her about his crush. “No. _Pidge_. I’m perfectly fine.”

Pidge let out a poorly concealed snort in response. Thankfully for Keith, it seemed Shiro had come to his rescue. “Pidge, stop teasing Keith—“

“Yes, dad.” Pidge rolled her eyes.

“—without me.” Keith’s face dropped instantly. Shiro had truly taken his role as an older brother to heart over the years, mercilessly teasing him any chance he got.

Pidge didn’t even try to conceal her laugh, as she ran across the kitchen to high-five Shiro, her grown out hair flowing behind her. Keith groaned, as the room broke out in laughter. Though despite his attempts, a small smile did make it’s way onto his face.

Hunk soon pat Keith on the back, handing him a plate of warm food. Thanking Hunk softly, Keith practically ran out of the kitchen so that he could collect himself before they ate. Keith made his way to the long table they always ate at, and placed the plate at his usual spot.

Allura and Coran walked in only moments after. Coran must have been telling Allura about one of his wild adventures, judging by the animated motions he was using. Noticing Keith, they both stopped and said a quick greeting.

“Ah, good morning Keith.” Allura said formally. She had long since gotten over the discomfort of Keith’s heritage.

Keith nodded in response before Coran began speaking. “Young Keith, I was just telling the Princess of my adventures in the—“

“Now, Coran,” Allura gave her advisor a look. “I’m sure Keith would love to hear all about your adventures, but I believe we should get our food first.”

“Right you are Princess.” Turing towards Keith, Coran began stroking his mustache. “ I apologize young paladin, but you will have to wait a bit to hear of my extraordinary adventures.”

“That will be just fine Coran.” Keith gave a small smile, silently thanking the Princess.

Allura let out a small giggle as they began to leave. As the two approached the doorway, Shiro appeared, almost dropping the two plates of food he had balanced on his hands.

“Oh Princess, sorry about that—“ Shiro began, a small blush appearing on his cheeks.

“—No the fault was mine.” Allura cut him off, bashfully looking up at him.

Keith did his best to hide his smirk, as he brought a spoonful of the alien food to his mouth. He watched the two gaze stupidly at each other, and Keith was mildly afraid they were about to start making out.

The two were practically dating. They had pretty much confessed to each other, and had even gone on a few impromptu dates. Though both claimed that nothing was going on, but Keith knew better. He had turned down a dark hallway a few months ago, and caught them sucking face. Keith grimaced at the thought.

No one had said anything, and the atmosphere was quickly becoming awkward. Keith let cleared his throat, making the two loved birds break from their trance.

“Uh…” Shiro sounded, moving so that Allura and Coran could pass. She gave him a bashful smile before hurrying past, her advisor on her heels.

Shiro set down his and Hunk’s plate in their respective seats. He always offered to bring Hunk’s food because he was the one who had cooked their meal.

Keith smirked as he continued eating, the only sound was the scraping of Shiro’s chair. After a moment of silence, Shiro pointed his spoon harshly in Keith’s direction.

“Not. One. Word.” He hissed out, traces of his blush still very prominent.

“I have no idea _what_ you’re talking about, Shiro.” Keith smirked, feigning ignorance.

Shiro’s eyebrow rose, annoyed. “Oh really?”

Keith could barely contain his laughter at this point. The brotherly teasing was a two way street, and he just couldn’t help himself sometimes.

“Nope…”

“So I guess that means I didn’t see _anything_ in the kitchen this morning.” Shiro got him there. Even though he’d never out right told Shiro about his crush, Keith wasn’t particularly good at hiding his affection. He wasn’t used to these kinds of emotions, and often he didn’t know how to deal with them. It truly was a miracle that Lance hadn’t found out yet.

Admitting defeat, Keith grumbled and went back to eating. Shiro put on a proud smile, sitting up straighter in victory. Keith was about to roll his eyes, but the rest of the castle’s inhabitants began filtering in through the doorway.

The room became much louder, as multiple conversations started up. The paladins sat in their usual seats on one side of the table, and Allura and Dr. Holt sat at either end. Coran sat across from Shiro, and Matt sat across from Pidge.

Lance sat next to Keith, like usual, and gave him a warm smile. Keith quickly broke eyes contact, staring at his food. The table slowly quieted, and all eyes focused on Allura. She would normally announce any plans they had for the day, or anything that needed to be addressed about the night before.

She seemed to think for a minuet. “Well paladins, I think this is your lucky quintant (day). Our next destination is still a ways away, and there don’t seem to be any Galra in the area. You have some free time, have fun paladins.”

A few cheers were let out, and everyone began making plans for the remainder of the day. “So mullet,” A familiar voice whispered darkly, close to Keith’s ear. “what do you have planned for the rest of the day?”

Keith turned his head, to look at Lance. Stupidly handsome as always, Lance was wearing a sultry smile that seemed to have more meaning that he was letting on. Keith swallowed thickly, trapped in Lance’s intense gaze.

A loud metal clang made Keith jump, breaking the trance.

“Sorry guys, dropped my spoon.” Pidge announced to the table, waving the retrieved utensil around.

Back in the correct state of mind, Keith pushed Lance’s face away from him. “Nothing that concerns you. Now eat your food.” Keith added that last part, noticing that Lance had yet to touch his food.

Chuckling at the red paladin’s actions, Lance caught Keith’s hand in his own. “I’m not really hungry for _food_ right now.”

Lance proceeded to lick his lips slowly, and Keith felt a shudder run through his very soul. Somewhere in the dark reaches of his mind, Keith really hoped what Lance said meant what he thought it meant.

“Too bad.” Keith pulled his hand away, voice sounding weaker than he wanted.

He watched Lance shrug out of the corner of his eye.

Keith resumed eating his meal, never taking his eyes off of Lance. He watched the blue paladin half-heartedly move the food on his plate around with his spoon, making a bored expression.

Keith’s furrowed his brows in confusion. Lance had one of the largest appetites on the ship, not to mention Hunk cooked this meal. Now Keith could understand Lance’s actions if it was Coran’s cooking, but breakfast tasted amazing today.

“Lance?” Keith asked cautiously.

“Hum?” Lance sounded, giving Keith his full attention.

“Are you feeling okay?"

Lance gave him a confused look. “Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

Keith looked around, confused, hoping to consult with someone else. He quickly noticed that everyone was too wrapped up in their own conversations to even notice the two.

“Uh, no reason. We just had a tiring mission yesterday.” Keith made up an excuse quickly.

Lance quirked his head to the side. “Are you sure you’re not the one feeling bad?”

Lance brought his hand to Keith’s face, placing it on his forehead. After holding it there for a moment, Lance’s hand dropped, cupping Keith’s cheek. The small touch held such affection, that Keith actually froze for a second.

Keith remembered the saying “deer in the headlights”, and he was sure that’s exactly what he resembled at the moment. Eyes wide, breathing heavy, utterly and completely frozen.

“Keith?” Lance asked sincerely, slowly leaning closer to his face. Lance’s eyes seemed to be searching for something in Keith’s, the ocean blue eyes coated in an indescribable emotion.

Unable to think, Keith had to follow his instincts—which he chose to follow even when he could think, but whatever. He was in fight or flight mode, in any other situation he would have chosen fight, but this wasn’t any other situation. This was the one thing he had no idea how to handle. All he could do was choose flight, fleeing the warm emotion like his life depended on it.

He quickly turned his head toward, ripping himself away from Lance’s touch. He felt like he had just run a marathon, with his heart racing and his face on fire. He let his hair fall over his shoulders, hopefully shielding his burning face from Lance’s view.

_Pidge’s POV_

The quick motion, must have caught Pidge’s attention, because she turned around just in time to watch Keith raise a shaking hand to cover his face. It was hard not to miss the blush covering Keith’s pale skin, all the way down to his neck. Rising an eyebrow in confusion, she looked past Keith, to Lance.

Having been with the two boys for the past five years, she could predict what kind of expression she would find on Lance’s face. Though Pidge did not find the expression she would have bet money on.

Where a sweet, caring gaze should have been, a dark, verging on _hungry_ look replaced it. She had never seen such an expression of desire in Lance’s eyes. She truly never thought that her happy-go-lucky teammate could even muster such a look.

It sent an unsettling chill down her spine, but as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. She wanted to talk to Keith about it, but shook her head at he thought.

This was Lance she was talking about. The most loyal friend she’d ever made—besides Hunk--, who could brighten any room he walked into. Her glasses must have a smudge on them, or it was the lighting. Yeah, that had to be it…. _right_?

**_\---evening the same day---_ **

_Keith’s POV_

Other than the fiasco at breakfast, Keith’s day had been relatively normal. He had fled from the table, as soon as it was an acceptable time to leave, and run all the way to the training deck.

He took his frustration and embarrassment on the training robots, not stopping until his arms became shaky from exhaustion. He sluggishly went through his cool down routine, already feeling the soreness seeping into his muscles.

He was sweating, and had lain down on the hard floor to cool himself off. He didn’t know how he was going to summon the energy to get up and go take a shower. Turns out he didn’t have to worry about that, because Keith fell into a deep sleep not long after.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Keith….”

He groaned at the sound of his name, taking in a deep breath. The air smelt nice, and his entire body felt warm and cozy.

“Oh Keith~” A voice cooed softly.

Keith had to open and close his eyes a few times, his vision blurry from sleep. He could see a figure, but he couldn’t identify who it was yet.

“Come on sleepy head~”

Keith slowly regained his senses, and opened his eyes. His eyes landed on Lance, who’s face was hovering over his own.

“AH!” Keith jumped, accidentally head butting Lance in his panic.

“Lance!?” Keith yelled, holding his sore forehead. “What are you—“ Keith cut himself off, as he took in their situation.

Lance had straddled Keith, and was now leaning down over him. His hands on either side of Keith’s head, effectively caging him in. The blue paladin moved back, also holding his injured head.

“Jesus, Lance. If I had my knife, I could have seriously injured you. You know better than to pull shit like this!” Keith scolded, propping himself up with his arms. The team had learned that the hard way, when Keith nearly decapitated Shiro during a prank.

Lance began to pout. “I’m sorry, but you just looked so vulnerable lying here. I thought you were just resting. I’m _really_ sorry Keith, let me make it up to you.”

Lance’s tone changed towards the end of the sentence. He gained the same look that he had during breakfast, placing both hands on Keith’s chest. Lance pushed suddenly, forcing Keith to lie back on the ground.

“Lance, what—“

Keith couldn’t speak anymore after that. Not once the thing he had been dreaming about for the past year was about to happen. Keith froze as Lance continued to lean in closer and closer, closing his eyes. Keith felt as if an eternity passed, and then it happened, it finally happened.

Lance’s impossibly soft lips began to move across his own. A firm, yet constant pressure on his, trying to transfer feelings that Keith didn’t understand. Keith’s eyes went wide, and he felt himself start to panic. What the hell was going on?!

Lance was still kissing him--now’s not the time to think about that, Keith needed to focus. Just what was going on? Was this a sick joke? Did Keith actually have a chance!? Were his dreams becoming reality, or was this really just another dream?

Keith had spent so much time convincing himself that nothing would ever happen. Telling himself to get over it, move on. Keith had much bigger things to worry about, like saving the universe. He was the red lions paladin, and he didn’t need such distractions. He didn’t need such frivolous feelings, he could live happily without them.

 _Without Lance_.

He wasn’t so sure that this was actually happening. Keith was beginning to doubt he was awake, or even alive. In all actuality, this _wasn’t_ how he’d imagined their first kiss would be. Lance was, and would be, a hopeless romantic until the day he died. He had watched the boy try to woo enough aliens that Keith was pretty sure he had Lance’s process figured out.

Keith didn’t pay attention as one of Lance’s hands cupped his face, and the other found purchase in his dark hair. Lance was still doing his best to get Keith to react, tugging softly on his hair. The slight pain was enough to pull Keith out of his thoughts, and back into reality.

Keith didn’t know what to do. It was all to sudden, to fast. It had to be a prank. There was no way Lance would ever like someone like Keith. There was no way he’d ever like _Keith_.

Feeling betrayed and panicked, the fight or flight mentality took over once again. He really liked Lance, one could even say that his emotions had already developed into love, but Keith refused to be the punch line of some stupid joke.

Now that he was paying attention, he couldn’t feel any affection behind the kiss. Why would there be? Keith was an idiot to ever get his hopes up. His body had gone ridged, and his anxiety was still building.

He could feel his hands begin to shake. Keith felt as if all of the pent up energy would explode if he moved a single muscle. Lance softly bit down on his bottom lip, and that was all it took. Keith shot up, harshly shoving Lance away from him.

He chose flight again, as he scrambled onto his feet. He pushed his tired muscles, running as far away from Lance as he could. Keith ignored the pleas that followed him, unsure of how he would ever speak to Lance again.

He felt his pent up emotions start to overflow. His vision blurred with tears that threatened to spill. Sharply turning a corner, he ran straight into Shiro, knocking them both down.

“Ow…Keith? What’s wrong?”

He couldn’t let Shiro see him like this, he couldn’t let anyone see him like this. So he didn’t answer. Keith just pushed himself back onto his feet, and kept running. Keith didn’t get far, before Shiro’s strong hand wrapped around his wrist.

Shiro saw the state his little brother was in, and his protective instinct took over. Keith felt Shiro pull him into his warm embrace, softly running his hand through his hair. Shiro pulled Keith down, so that they were both sitting on the cold floor.

Keith had lived a hard life, learning that to survive you couldn’t show weakness. You always had to keep your emotions in check, and even if your world was crumbling around you, it could never show on your face.

_Keith felt a single warm tear slide down his cheek._

To show weakness was a death sentence. He’d heard the spill that ‘real men aren’t afraid to cry’ and that ‘it isn’t actually a sign of weakness, everyone does it’. It wasn’t just weakness to Keith, it was revealing his most true and raw emotions. It completely bypassed every wall he had so carefully constructed throughout his life. Crying meant showing his true, ugly, and scarred self to someone else. Trusting someone with the most fragile part of his entire being.

_Keith buried his face into Shiro’s chest, shaking with emotion._

He couldn’t do it. He was too used to being alone, surviving by himself, caring about no one else. He thought that the members of Team Voltron would be the ones to help him escape that mentality.

_Keith finally snapped, letting everything go. He began sobbing harder than he ever had in his life. Shiro pulled Keith closer, making small shushing noises, as Keith fell apart._

Keith was afraid he would revert back to how he was before Voltron. The lone wolf, estranged from everyone. It’s not like he wanted to be alone, but no one would ever try to understand him. They couldn’t see that he just didn’t know how to be friendly, and on one would teach him how. No one cared to see that he was constantly weighed down with anxiety, that he was afraid of other’s opinions.

No one could see that he hated being alone, more than anyone else. He knew what it felt like to have absolutely no one in his life. He knew what it felt like to be stuck in silence with only his thoughts all day every day.

_Keith proceeded to cry, completely soaking Shiro’s shirt, until he felt there were no more tears to shed._

Keith knew what it felt like to be completely and utterly alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, that was a lot of angst. Things should get better in the next chapter tho. Oh, and it looks like this will end up being about a 5 chapter fic.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I am soooo sorry I couldn't post this chapter earlier. I was in the impact zone of Hurricane Harvey, so my school started recently. All of my teachers are having to make up for 2 lost weeks, so I am absolutely swamped with homework right now. Anyways, this is not a very plot heavy chapter, just a lot of exposition, sorry! The next chapter is gonna be full of drama though, so be ready!
> 
> Not beta read, lots of spelling mistakes.

**_\--The next morning—_ **

_Keith’s POV_

Keith woke up feeling miserable, to say the least. He had cried himself to sleep in his brother’s comforting arms the night before. Keith could already feel the puffiness of his eyes, and the exhaustion settling into his bones.

Sitting up slowly, he quickly noticed he was not in his room. Next to him, on the floor, Shiro was still asleep in a bed he had made from spare blankets. He was positioned between Keith and the door, anyone who wanted to get to his little brother had to go through him first. Keith almost managed a chuckle; even in his sleep Shiro was still protecting him.

A new wave of sadness washed over Keith, causing his shoulders to slump under its weight, as memories of the evening before flashed through his mind. He burrowed under the blankets, pulling the warm sheets over his head. Curling into a ball, Keith stared blankly at the darkness in front of him.

Keith wanted nothing more than to just go back to sleep, but anxiety began to engulf him. The tornado of thoughts swirling through his head kept him thoroughly awake. The most common question to float through his mind was: _Why?_

He thought surely there must be an explanation for Lance’s actions. He couldn’t hate Keith, not after all they had been through together. Sure they had a rocky start, but that was five years ago. They were the best duo in team Voltron; no one could work together quite like they could. They made a great team. Hell, they were friends.

Though, maybe Keith was wrong.

 Maybe Lance really did hate him, never quite getting over the problems they had so many years ago. Perhaps Lance had just hidden it from everyone, not wanting to cause problems for the team. Maybe he’d just let his secret hatred fester and grow for _five years_ , keeping it contained until he burst. Maybe Lance had noticed Keith’s feelings, and that was all it took to tip the balance.

After thinking about it for a while, Keith couldn’t even blame him. Lance should be disgusted to find out that someone like _Keith_ had feelings for him.

Keith knew just how hard it was to put up with his personality; he’d done it for almost 24 years now. Keith was stuck with his bad attitude, pettiness, and anger issues, but Lance wasn’t.

Maybe this was for the best. This way Lance wouldn’t be stuck with Keith, and he could find someone he actually deserved. Keith’s feelings wouldn’t just go away because of heartbreak, he still wanted the best for Lance. More than anything he wanted Lance to find happiness…..only, now, it was at his own expense.

Keith hadn’t cried in a while, probably because he didn’t have any tears left to shed. Feeling like an empty shell of his former self, the red paladin subjected himself to his fate. He let out a sigh, which must have been loud, considering that Shiro begin to stir.

Keith panicked for a second, wondering if he should pretend to be asleep. Though Keith was not given time to decide, because next thing he knew the blankets were being ripped off of him.

The second Shiro takes a look at Keith’s sorry state, Keith can see the change in his eyes.

Shiro sits down on the bed, close to Keith. He looks down at his little brother with a mixture of poorly concealed pity and worry.

“How long have you been awake?” Shiro asks, brushing the stray hair out of Keith’s face.

“Not long.” Keith lies.

Shiro raise an accusing eyebrow, silently daring Keith to keep lying to him.

Keith crumbles, not having the energy to fight back. “A while.”

Shiro gives a small nod. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Keith just shrugs, not giving a verbal answer. With that, the two settle into an awkward silence. Keith knows what Shiro is going to say next, he can feel the uneasy atmosphere in the room.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Shiro breaks the silence, asking that dreaded question.

“No.”

Keith’s answer was simple and straight to the point. It left no room for argument.

“Keith.”

He flinched slightly at the tone in Shiro’s voice. He had used his disappointed father tone, the one that made you feel guilty even though you had done nothing wrong. He could have dealt with Angry Shiro much better, but he could already feel his defense crumbling under Disappointed Shiro’s gaze.

 Keith let out a heavy sigh. “Lancekissedme.” He mumbled out quickly, not meeting Shiro’s eyes.

Shiro, once again, raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Keith. You and I both know I couldn’t understand that.”

Keith pouted, whispering, “Lance….kissedme…..”

“I can’t help you if you don’t help yourself, Keith.”

“Lance kissED ME! OKAY!” Keith’s anger peaked, as he sat up quickly. He glared at Shiro, for making him say that. Saying it out loud made the situation that much more real. Letting gravity pull him back down, Keith sadly flopped onto the bed.

Shiro seemed a bit taken back by the outburst, but his expression then changed into confusion. “Wait,” Shiro said, trying to collect his thoughts. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

Keith met his gaze, then buried his face into the pillow. “No.”

He could tell that Shiro was honestly confused right now, but he didn’t want to explain. Keith wanted to do _anything_ but relive that moment.

Keith felt Shiro wrap his arms around him, pulling him into a hug. He set his chin on Keith’s head, and rubbed soothing circles into his back.

Keith’s arms were limp as he rested his head in Shiro’s neck. Had he not been so spent, Keith would have started crying at that very moment.

“He didn’t mean it.” Keith explained quietly, knowing Shiro wanted an answer.

“The ‘he’ you’re talking about is Lance right?”

Keith nodded his head, knowing Shiro could feel the movement.

“So, Lance didn’t mean what?”

“The kiss Shiro!” Keith forcefully pried himself out of the hug. “Lance wasn’t returning my feelings, he was making fun of them!”

Shiro’s eyes widened, then immediately narrowed. In a tense silence, Keith watched Shiro stand. Keith could practically see rage flowing from Shiro, as he began making his way to the door.

Realizing he was most likely on his way to murder Lance, or worse, Keith knew he had to stop him.

In a pathetic voice, Keith called out. “Shiro, wait!” Scrambling off the bed, he caught his brother’s human arm. “Please! I don’t want this to affect the team.”

Keith could see the black paladin’s anger vanish, and he let out a breath of relief. “You’re right Keith. I’m sorry.”

Keith nodded, letting go of Shiro’s arm.

“I can handle it Shiro.”

Keith received no answer. Shiro just stares at him, unbelievingly.

“I’ll handle it. Just give me some time.” Keith repeats with more determination.

“Fine, but Keith please don’t just run away form this. If you leave something like this alone for too long, it really will start to affect the team. I’ll always have your back. When you fell like confronting Lance, I’ll be right there with you.”

Nodding one again, Keith let his gaze fall to the floor.

“Now,” Shiro said clapping his hands together. “That’s enough sadness for today, go get cleaned up so we can get some breakfast.”

A small smile made its way to Keith’s lips for the first time that day, as he began heading to his room.

**\---the same afternoon---**

Keith was having serious regrets about telling Shiro what happened last night. He’d been hovering around Keith the whole day, constantly checking up on him.

Though Keith was thankful for how Shiro was helping him avoid Lance. There had been a few close calls today, with Lance being very persistent trying to talk to him. Each time, Shiro would make up an excuse for needing to speak with him.

Keith was utterly exhausted, and decided to take a seat on the large couch in what the paladins had begun calling the living room. It had been Lance and Hunk’s idea to name different rooms of the castle-ship like you would rooms in a house, back on Earth.

This was the largest, and most used public room, besides the command bridge. Keith would often sit for hours on the couch, just observing the others as they passed by. He was mostly left alone, and so this had become a usual part of his day over the years.

He let out a breath, thinking about how much had changed in five years.

Keith himself hadn’t changed all that much, he guessed he had changed the least out of everyone. Sure he had a few new scars, and a bit more muscle, but that was the only noticeable difference. He supposed he might have grown a bit, but his normal appearance hadn’t changed.

Keith absolutely refused to change his hair style, only trimming it when it got too long. His original clothes were long gone due to wear and tear, but he had found surprisingly similar clothes at a space mall.

Keith’s swordsmanship and knife wielding were remarkable, and he could now hold his own against Shiro in hand to hand combat. Through a lot of trial and error, his leadership skills had also improved. Thinking about it, his instinct and observation skills had also become a force to be reckoned with.

He and Red had bonded a lot over five years, and with experience he had become an expert pilot. Being stuck with Team Voltron, Keith had learned to open up a bit, and how to work as a team.

Hearing a collection of voices grow louder, he drew himself out of his thoughts. He realized that most of the castle’s inhabitants were collected in the room. This was a usual occurrence, at least once a day everyone ended up being drawn here.

Allura, Shiro, and Coran were standing together, chatting merrily. Appearance wise, those three had barely changed. Personality wise, they had all stopped being as strict and commanding.

Shiro and Matt had been best friends at the Garrison, and with him on the ship Shiro’s inner child appeared. Keith swore the universe was coming to an end when he saw them playing a prank on Coran. Shiro was a lot happier, and had completely accepted the role of Space Dad. Also he and Allura had gotten into a relationship, even though neither would admitted it.

Pidge had given Shiro’s arm a few upgrades, and his white tuff of hair was finally regaining some color. Besides becoming more of a child with Matt, Shiro really hadn’t changed. He was still their fearless leader, who was also a fretting Space Dad.

Keith had become much better friends with Hunk over the years. Keith was the pickiest eater of the team, so Hunk often made Keith taste his new recipes. If the red paladin liked it, then there was no doubt the rest of the team would as well. Hunk had become quite knowledgeable about alien cuisine, using his skills to make foods almost identical to Earth meals.

With the help of Pidge, Hunk had set up a sort of Skype with Shay. The cute couple had been together for about 4 and a half years now.

Hunk had overcome his motion sickness, and he could easily hold his own in battle now. Though his sunshine personality, and empathy for anything that moved hadn’t changed. Coran taught Hunk how to use some Altean medical tech, and he now helped anyone who got injured on the battlefield.

Pidge had no reason to keep her hair short anymore, so she let it grow out. Though when Matt first joined the ship, the two would pull pranks on everyone because they looked identical. She was a lot more cheerful, and significantly more dangerous. Having been surrounded by alien tech for years, her tech skills now rivaled some of the most advanced civilizations in the universe. She had grown up quite a bit, and was obviously a woman now, but Lance still liked to tease her about he height. To her displeasure she was still the shortest on the team.

Speaking of Lance, he was probably the one who changed the most. He was still an annoying goofball, but he had matured where it really counted. He made a better second in command than Keith did. He was able to make level headed decisions in the midst of battle, decisions that often saved their asses.

No one could joke about Lance’s self-imposed title of sharpshooter anymore. With years of tireless training and natural skill, not even other races could beat him. Though all of that had changed, you couldn’t tell because he still flirted with any female he set his eyes on.

Lance was still the glue that held the team together. He was the light in the darkness of their situation. Despite his self confidence issues, that the team now knew about, he could make any situation seem bearable. Keith couldn’t understand how he was always so positive, considering Lance had the worst luck of any of the paladins.

During a particularly bad mission, Lance had been captured by Prince Lotor. He was severely injured when Team Voltron finally found him, and now sported a few scars from that encounter. The worst one was a gash that cut through his left eyebrow, had it been any lower he would have lost his eye. Lance whined for weeks, complaining that it ruined his flawless skin.

Lance had put on more muscle over the years, though he still had a lean swimmer’s body. (they finally figured out how to work the Altean pool) Keith often helped him train, and they had bonded over that quite a bit. They were both significantly better at combat with five years of experience under their belt. The pair had grown significantly closer over their time with Team Voltron. They could always trust each other.

Or so Keith thought.

 Lance was acting weird, and it wasn’t how he acted when was depressed or sad. Really thinking on it now, Keith hadn’t seen Lance eat once. In fact Lance hadn’t made a single shitty pun, he hadn’t seen him bothered Pidge, Hunk said he had missed their ‘bro time’, and Keith hadn’t heard any obnoxiously loud singing today. It was like Lance had just stopped doing his normal routiene.

Also, Lance had kissed Keith.

If that wasn’t weird, then they weren’t on an alien spaceship defending the universe in five magical lions.

Keith needed to think about this with a clear head. He couldn’t let his self pity get in the way of the facts presented to him.

If something weird was going on, hen Keith vowed to get to the bottom of it. The Lance he knew wouldn’t abandon Keith in his time of need, so he was going to help his friend. Even if the end result was a broken heart, Keith knew he would go to the edge of the universe for the man he loved.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy my readers! I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long to write. School was killing me these past few weeks, so I haven't had much time to write.
> 
> Anyways~ happy reading!

**\---the same afternoon---**

As Keith watched Lance leave the room he knew what he had to do. Looks like his years of criptid hunting and research experience wouldn’t go to waste after all.

_Ha, take that Shiro._ Keith thought smugly.

First things first, observation and research. The longest and most tedious stage of any good hunter’s routine.

Keith quickly runs to his room, and grabs the nice journal he bought at the space mall. It seemed like an impulse buy at the time, but he knew it would come in handy sooner or later. He was proud that he finally got the chance to use it.

With the red journal and a writing utensil in hand, Keith went in search of Lance.

**Hour 1:** _Lance is no where to be found. Where could he be? He couldn’t have gone far in such a short amount of time. Also we’re  in space, there aren’t many places he could go…_

_Anyways, this behavior is unusual, Lance is rarely found alone. He is always in the room with the most people, only right now…he isn’t. If you can’t see him, then you can hear him. That’s just how Lance is._

_-not socializing_

**Hour 3:** _Turns out Lance was in his room the whole time, but Lance hates staying cooped up like that. He can’t even get a full nights sleep in his room, so how was he just sitting in there for so long? Yeah, he thinks no one knows about his_ _midnight_ _walks, but every night I can hear him pass by my door. Thinking back on it, I haven’t heard him the past few nights._

_-stayed in room_

_-no_ _midnight_ _walks_

**Hour 4:** _Lance didn’t touch his food at dinner. I could tell, we sit right next to each other.  I couldn’t question him though, the atmosphere was too awkward. Shiro watched me like a hawk the entire time. I could tell that everyone was just as uncomfortable as I was—back to Lance. I haven’t seen him touch his food at ANY meals._

_Confided in Pidge, and she agreed that he was acting weird. She said he hadn’t bothered her all day, and he hasn’t spent time with Hunk either._

_-not eating_

_-avoiding(?) friends_

**Hour 6:** _Allura called a small meeting to inform everyone that our destination was still a few days away, so we had time to relax. Lance stared at me the entire meeting, he looked like he wanted to talk. Though even weirder, he didn’t make a single flirting remark to Allura- he didn’t even use his stupid finger guns! The Princess actually questioned him on how he was feeling._

_-no flirty attitude/actions_

Keith sighed, running a hand through his long hair. He examined his hastily scribbled notes as he walked aimlessly through the castle halls. He always found that being active helped him think better.

He leaned against the wall, resting his head against the cold metal. He dropped the journal out of his view, letting it hang at his side, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

There was just too much to think about. Could Lance really be an alien??  Sure the evidence he has collected isn’t anything concrete, but it shows that Lance really isn’t acting like himself.

He let out a frustrated groan.

Who could he confide in? Lance had been his go to person for the past 3 years, but he was obviously not an option at the moment. Shiro? No, he was in big brother mode right now, he’d never listen to Keith. What about Pidge…she loved this kind of stuff, but whether she would believe Keith or not, was the question.

Just as Keith has made up his mind, Shiro entered his view.

“Oh, Keith. What are you doing here?” He asks, quirking his head to the side.

Keith pushes himself off the wall quickly, “Uhhh—nothing.” He slips his journal behind his back, hoping Shiro doesn’t notice.

Shiro furrows his brows at Keith’s awkward answer, taking a step closer in concern. “Are you sure you’re okay Keith? You’ve had a rough couple of days.”

“Ahh, yeah, just _peachy_ Shiro.”  Keith manages to grit out, whishing Shiro hadn’t made him remember.

Shiro stares at his brother for a moment longer, before he lets out a breath. “If you say so.”

He continues down the hall, towards Keith. As Shiro passes, he places a firm hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Get some sleep Keith.” Giving him a small smile, Shiro leaves.

Keith doesn’t move until he is sure that Shiro’s footsteps have faded completely. Keith lets out a breath, changing his mind just to speak to Pidge in the morning.

He flips the journal closed, and slowly meanders to his room. He pauses for a moment outside of Lance’s door, placing his hand to the cold metal. Lance was right behind this thin barrier, Keith thought, resting his forehead on the door. Suddenly Keith realized that he could avoid a lot of trouble by just asking Lance what was going on. Surely Lance would give him a straight answer, though whether it would be a good or bad one, Keith didn’t know.

He took a breath, and gently rapped his knuckles on the hard metal.

“Lance? It’s me—it’s Keith….” There was no answer. He tried again, knocking a bit louder. “Hello? It’s me—Keith. Can I please come in? We need to talk!” Again no answer.

Keith was vaguely reminded of the first time he met the red lion.

Realizing that just standing here wasn’t going to get him an answer, Keith visibly deflated. He slowly drug himself to his room, falling onto his bed.

Turning over, he took his knife from his belt. He held it at arms length, sadly admiring how the metal shone even in the small amount of light still on in his bedroom. The cloth he had wrapped around the handle had come loose, revealing the glowing Galra insignia.

He stared at it, emotionlessly, before expertly rewrapping the cloth. Once he was satisfied that the symbol was covered he carefully placed his knife under his pillow, turning to this side. Keith then closed his eyes, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.

**\---the same night---**

_Lance’s POV_

Lance groggily opened his eyes, feeling like he had been hit by a Galra battle-cruiser.

This time was no different from the rest. He was still tied up and gagged on his bed, and his doppelganger was standing next to him.

He had no idea how much time had passed, it could have been days-weeks even. The Imito had the power to put their target, to put it simply, in a state of suspended animation. Lance wasn’t completely clear on all of the details, just that they had to bite you for their powers to work. Though he did know that a significant amount of time passed between each time he was woken up.

Thankfully, Lance didn’t feel hungry or thirsty, but he could feel the toll it was taking on his body. His vision swam, accompanied with nausea and a throbbing headache. He felt abnormally exhausted for the amount of “sleep” he’d been getting.

The Imito looked down on him with a mixture of pity and annoyance. Sensing that Lance desperately wanted to talk to it, it removed the piece of cloth from his lips.

“Wha’s happenin’ to me?” Lance’s words were slurred, and his voice was hoarse.

“This is the way Imito keep their target from interfering in their work. It is not meant to be used for longer than a day or two. If this practice persists, there could be… _undesirable_ effects on the target’s body. I had hoped that waking you periodically would prevent such a thing from occurring…”

Lance’s eyes widened as far as they could under such exhaustion. “Wha’…what type’a effectsss?”

The Imito opened it’s mouth to answer, just as a soft knock was heard on the door.

“Lance? It’s me—it’s Keith….”

Holy shit, Keith was standing right outside of his door. He began to call out as a firm hand pressed itself to Lance’s forehead. He felt his consciousness slipping.

A louder knock sounded. “Hello? It’s me—Keith. Can I please come in? We need to talk!”

Lance couldn’t fight it any longer, surrendering to the calming darkness. “…keith…”

Lance opened his eyes, unable to see anything in the darkness surrounding him.

This was new, he wondered if this was one of those vivid dreams Hunk had told him about. Supposedly you could control the dream world, because you were aware you were in a dream, or something like that.

A soft rumble pulsated from the vast darkness in front of him, disrupting his train of thought. It felt strangely familiar, so he followed it.

For the first time, Lance saw something other than darkness. A soft blue light shone like a beacon in the surrounding darkness. It became more and more intense the closer he got. Realizing just what it was, Lance took off into a sprint.

“Blue!!” Lance cheered, as he neared the familiar robotic cat. “Boy am I glad to see you!”

She purred in response to his excitement.

Lance thought for a moment. “Wait, if you’re here then you can help me! Please Blue, tell the other’s what’s going on. I’m trapped in my room, and the me-that-isn’t-me is an imposter!!”

She tilted her head in a very cat-like gesture. She was confused, well who wouldn’t be after the explanation he just gave.

Blue crouched down, so that her face was level with his. He placed his had on her nose, trying his best to show her what had been going on. He did his best to explain from start to finish, hoping that she could decipher his thoughts.

She pushed a comforting feeling into his mind, now understanding just what the problem was. She had come to him in this dream, because she had felt worried after sensing his distress.

Blue assured him that she would do her best to communicate to the other lions, and hopefully the other paladins after that. Lance had no doubt that she would take care of it.

He brushed his hand across her smooth metal, as relief rushed through him. Lance was finally going to be free, and he wouldn’t have to find out what these undesirable effects, the Imito spoke of, were.

Lance backs away by a few steps, as Blue readies herself to jump. He stumbles from the ground shaking force, watching her take off into the darkness.

As soon as the last of her blue light fades away, Lance begins to feel the floor collapse. He falls into the unknown content, knowing that the next time he wakes up, it won’t be the Imito standing over him.

**\---the next morning---**

_Keith’s POV_

Once again Keith wakes up less than happy.

Rolling onto his back, he stares hopelessly at his ceiling. He had called out to Lance last night, but he never got an answer. Lance _ignored_ him. Maybe Lance really does hate Keith.

With a shake of his head, Keith steels his determination. He leaps out of his bed, and quickly gets dressed.

Flying out of his room, jacket in hand, Keith goes in search of Pidge.

Luckily it doesn’t take much to find the green paladin. Keith has a suspicion that Pidge hasn’t moved from behind her collection of computers in quite some time. To this day Keith still isn’t sure what half of this stuff does. She has collected technology from all different corners of the galaxy, and _somehow_ made it work as one collective unit.

She doesn’t notice Keith approaching as her fingers fly across the keyboard projected in the space in front of her. Blue light shines off of her brother’s beat-up glasses, giving her a possessed appearance.

“Hey Pidge?” Keith questions, tapping her on the shoulder.

She screams, falling to the ground with a loud crash.

Keith rushes to her side, helping the tired teen up. “JESUS KEITH! WARN A GIRL , WOULD YOU?!” She yells at him, smacking his arm.

Keith flinches back from her assault. “Sorry about that.”

She lets out a tired sigh, running her hand down her face. “Oh don’t apologize. I was just so absorbed with this new piece of tech I found. I mean have you ever seen some— 

Pidge continues to ramble on, using computer jargon far too advanced for Keith to follow. He lets her keep speaking as she returns to fretting around each different piece of her ‘collection’.

“SO if I could convince Hunk and Matt to help me, then with a star’s power we could—“ She abruptly cuts herself off. With a sheepish smile, she turns to face Keith. “I was rambling again…sorry about that….Anyways, did you want something?”

“Oh, yeah, actually….” Keith reveals his journal, but quickly shuts down. God this was a stupid idea. Even he thought it was crazy, how would he ever convince Pidge that his theories had real relevance.

“Um…nevermind.” He moves to return his journal to his belt pouch.

“Oh no you don’t, mister. You don’t just show me something, then not tell me.” She quickly swipes Keith’s journal from his hand.

“Hey!”

“Now what do we have here~” She says while reading his entries, her expression slowly dropping.

“Keith…” She looks at him with a heavy expression.

He quickly takes the journal back, slamming it closed. “See, it’s crazy….ughh I never should have asked….”

Pidge’s forehead wrinkles in concentration, staring intently at the ground. He can practically hear the gears turning in her head. Before Keith can turn to leave, she latches onto his sleeve.

Look up to Keith, she slowly exclaims, “Holy fuck, Lance is an alien.”

Keith stares at her, not sure how to respond. Once again she rips the journal from Keith’s hands, and begins to study the pages.

“No, I mean Keith, _think_ about it.” She says, smacking the page with the back of her hand. “Look at all of this! This is really good data Keith, and it obviously shows that something’s up. I was actually wondering if Lance was okay myself….after seeing _that_ a few days ago.” She whispers to herself, recalling Lance’s strange behavior at dinner. “Too much of this makes sense for it not to be true!”

“Wa-wait. So you believe me!?” Keith yells, almost jumping with joy.

Pidge gives him an affirmative nod. “So first things first, we need to tell the others about this, Shiro especially—“

“No. We can’t tell Shiro.”

“Wh—Keith what do you mean we can’t tell Shiro?! He’s like our leader!”

“And he’s also my completely rational, over-protective brother. He used to laugh off all of my wild alien conspiracies, when I was a child! Well just look where we are now--SPACE!”

“Keith this is different. Hell, Matt used to do the same thing to me, but after everything he’s been through? I can guarantee he’d at least look into my accusations!”

“No. Shiro. Anyone else, just not him. He won’t believe us, and will demand that I stop with these ‘jokes’.”

“Keith, he’s your brother! Give him a bit more credit. You were a kid, on Earth, when he laughed. THIS,” She gestures wildly into the air, “is different!”

 Keith lets out a breath, not understanding why Pidge can’t see that telling Shiro is a mistake.

“Forget it, I’ll take care of this on my own.” Keith turns his back on Pidge, who is still yelling at him. He was on his own for most of his life, what one more day?

_Pidge’s POV_

Pidge watches Keith’s figure disappear through the doors. She lets out a growl in anger, pulling at her long, tangled hair. She looked down to the red journal, still in her hands, knowing  what she needs to do next.

Whether it’s out of spite, or actual common sense, Pidge goes in search of Shiro.

She, of course, finds him with Allura. They are always together these days, and she feels the tiniest ounce of guilt interrupting the moment they’re having. Only the tiniest bit though, they are disgustingly adorable.

“Shiro! Allura!”

They quickly break away from each other, standing awkwardly far apart. Pidge just rolls her eyes, jogging towards them.

“Pidge? What’s going on?” Shiro asks, his expression now serious.

Pidge shifts her weight, now wondering if Shiro really will believe her. She understood where Keith was coming from, but still, she had to try.

She took a breath, and let the words spill out of her mouth. She didn’t stop until the entire story had been told, even including her odd experience at dinner a few days ago. She went as far as to show them Keith’s journal.

When she finally shut up, she watched Shiro and Allura’s expressions nervously. Would they believe her? They flipped through the journal, and gave each other a look.

“SO….”  Pidge breathed out. She needed to hurry and go find Keith to make sure he wasn’t getting himself killed or something.

Shiro gave her a nod. “I’m not sure I believe Lance is an alien, but even I have noticed his strange behavior. At the very least we need to go check on him.”

“I agree. Also, you said Keith went off on his own?” Allura chimed in.

Pidge nodded.

“Well we need to go find him, and gather the rest of the team.” She continued.

“I’ll try and figure out how to pull up the video feed from around the castle, so that we can find Keith.” Pidge explained, already heading to her ‘space computer fortress’ as she liked to call it.

Shiro and Allura gather the team in record time, explaining as much as they can on the way. Soon enough Matt and Hunk are on either side of her, giving suggestions on how to bypass the castle’s defense firewalls.

It takes a bit of work, seeing as they were the ones who made the defense system. After the castle going haywire because of the Galra takeover, all those years ago, they created a security system to prevent that from ever occurring again. Though, they might have done too good of a job. It was a real struggle, even with the three of them combined.

As they worked, the team discussed each of their experiences concerning Lance. The more they talked, the more evident that it became, something was definitely wrong.

“YES!” Pidge exclaimed, as a blurry video feeds flickered to life on her monitor screen. Everyone crowded around her chair, each scanning the many screens.

“There!” Coran yelled, pointing to the screen that showed Red’s hanger.

Sure enough they could see Keith sitting in front of Red. Pidge expanded the screen, so that it was the only one showing.

Keith had a scowl on his face, and his arms crossed. The team could see his lips moving, but no sound was coming through.

“Ughhhhh, why won’t the sound work?!” Pidge groaned, sliding down her chair. She felt as if she was a  teacher back on Earth who couldn’t figure out how to full screen a video.

“Well, at least we know he’s fine.” Shiro offered.

Earth! With than, an idea struck her, and she quickly slid beneath the table, gazing into the sea of junk. Matt’s face soon came into view, with a questioning look.

“Pidge?” She heard Allura’s voice chime in.

Ignoring the questions coming from the rest of the team, she gestured to the wires in front of her with a grin.

Matt chuckled, “Katie you’re a genius!"

“I know.” She said proudly, pushing her glasses up with one finger.

Matt and her father had helped Pidge set up the computers to be as Earth-like as possible. They were a lot more efficient than Earth tech, but it was still familiar.

So just like on Earth they needed to add some speakers to the monitor. She kept all extra pieces of tech she had collected under her work space, ya know, just in case she ever needed them. Its not like she was a hoarder or anything….

Matt grinned back, and they began sorting through the wires and scrap metal, tossing anything they could use towards Hunk. If anyone could build some Earth speakers from scratch, it was him.

“Wait, uh guys, what is all this for--!” He yelled, just narrowly dodging a bundle of wires.

He inspected the growing pile, his face lighting up. “Ohhhhh!”

Hunk plopped down onto the ground, tongue sticking out in concentration. He began to sift through the pile, connecting wires, and calling out to the Holt siblings for specific pieces. Meanwhile, Dr. Holt looked over Hunk’s shoulder, making small suggestions every now and then.

Shiro, Allura, and Coran looked on the scene in wonder. None of them had any idea what was going on. Shiro decided not to question it, trusting that they knew what they were doing.

Shiro looked back to the video feed, watching Keith. He watched as the hanger doors open. “Look.” He said, getting everyone’s attention.

The Holt siblings appeared from beneath the table, as everyone once again crowded around the computer.

They watched the video feed in silence, as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. Everyone was frozen, expressions ranging from fear to astonishment.

Wordlessly, Hunk attached the make-shift speakers, and static-filled sound filtered through the air.

They watched as Keith stopped talking to Red, and turn around to--.

“Lance?”

Everyone watched in horror. Keith had been right about everything.

_That wasn’t Lance._

‘Lance’ appeared on the video as a deformed shadow of Lance, occasionally flickering in and out of focus.

The team exchanged looks for only a moment, before they were taking off. They had to go save Keith and find out what happened to the real Lance.

Shiro was a true leader, assigning roles to everyone quickly and efficiently.

Pidge stayed at the monitor, in charge of keeping everyone informed of the situation. Tuning into the comms, she watched the screen with anxiety, hoping that Shiro would get to Keith in time.

_Keith’s POV_

Keith had stormed off after speaking to Pidge, making his way to the training deck. It was the best place for him to work off his anger, it always had been.

Standing in the doorway, unwanted memories flooded into his mind. He froze, breathing becoming heavy.

_The kiss_.

Keith quickly turned away, trying to slow his pounding heart. He couldn’t go in there, not yet. He let out an angered sigh, resting his head on the sold metal of the wall.

He felt a soft hum at the back of his consciousness. He reeled away from the wall, looking around trying to place the feeling.

The presence increased, and it was Red calling out to him. He could feel that she wanted to ‘talk’, maybe help him get rid of his anger.

With a sigh, he made the long walk to her hanger. No matter how many times he’d laid his eyes on her, the sight of Red never ceased to amaze him.

She looked the same as she did five years ago, maybe a few new dents here and there, but the same.

Their bond had strengthened, obviously. Five years was a long time.

He’d picked up a few things from the other paladins, learning how to keep her in good shape. He’d often spend days in here after a harsh battle, letting Red walk him through the more difficult operations.

It was almost therapeutic, and probably a better way to use his pent up emotions. He could focus all of his attention on this one task, forgetting everything in the space around him. When he finally ran out of steam, he’d collapse in his bed, and wake up feeling much better.

Keith walked up to Red, and placed his hand on her smooth metal, affectionately. “Alright Red, what are we going to do today?”

He felt a happy rumble as he began to collect different space tools. He could compare most of them to Earth tools, but some were just so different that he had to classify them all as ‘space tools’.

He pushed the tool box to the side, and sat in front of her. Keith always got all of his emotions out before he began working; it was much safer that way. Sometimes he’d just talk, other times he would pace, sometimes he’d just yelled at the top of his lungs for a while.

He still remembered lessons from his training with the Blades, years ago. They had taught him ways to control his anger, and how to use it to his advantage. He still used their anger management lessons, because they really worked for him.

Today he just sat with his arms crossed, trying to figure out what exactly he was angry about. He was mostly sad about Lance, and he wasn’t truly angry at Pidge. He could understand her logical train of thought, but it still pissed him off.

He decided just to talk to Red for now, maybe he would yell later.

He asked routine things, like how her day was going. Was there anything in particular they needed to work on, or did she want to go flying for a while.

He’d only just started, when he heard the hanger doors slide open. Thinking it was most-likely Pidge, he turned around, annoyed.

Keith most definitely was not expecting Lance to be striding towards him. He had a dark expression, with his eyes locked onto Keith.

“Lance.” Keith’s voice came out much weaker than he wanted it to.

Lance didn’t answer. His gaze left Keith for a moment, settling on one of Keith’s ‘space tools’ that acted like a wrench. Lance picked it up, testing the weight in his hand.

Steely blue eyes landed on Keith, dark and emotionless.

Wrench in hand, Lance began walking once again, and Keith felt he was frozen in place. He couldn’t escape that intense gaze.

He could feel the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. He was hyperaware of every muscle in his body, every breath he took, and the ever shortening distance between him and Lance. Adrenalin shot through his veins, as fight or flight instinct took over.

The whole situation reminded Keith of a predator hunting it’s prey. He was familiar with the concept; in fact, he felt it every time he fought. He would hunt down the Galra soldiers, mercilessly. He was a known force in the universe that few would ever want to meet on the battlefield.

As many battles Keith had fought in the past five years, he had never experienced this feeling before. This was different than anything he’d ever felt.  

For the first time, _Keith_ was the prey.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH here's the new chapter! Please don't kill me for that last cliffhanger!! P.S. this probably should have been 2 chapters..it's like 5,000 words.....

_Keith’s POV_

Keith feels his blood turn to ice.

He slowly takes a step backwards, then another, each filled with anxious caution. He never takes his eyes off Lance; watching, waiting. The distance between them shrinks with every passing second.

Keith’s back hits a solid surface, jolting him out of his trance. He quickly turns, seeing Red’s large leg blocking his path of escape.

Keith doesn’t have a chance to run. He can see Lance’s shadow on the floor, and feel the breath on his neck. The loud clang of metal hitting metal makes Keith’s head snap up.

Lance’s face is mere inches away from his own, tan arms caging Keith. The space wrench still in Lance’s grasp.

“You’ve been avoiding me…” Lance states in a low voice, dark eyes trailing down Keith’s face. Lance rests his head in the crook of Keith’s neck. “Why?” He whispers hotly into Keith’s ear.

Keith can’t seem to find his voice. He takes in a few breaths, wets his lips, but no words will come out. What could he even answer? ‘Well, ya’ know, I kind of found out that you’re an alien, so I was trying to warn everyone so that we could stop you and find the real Lance’. Yeah right….Keith would be dead in a tick.

“I asked a question… _Keith_.”

Keith weighs his options in the defining silence. One: he could try to bullshit his way out of this. Pretend, and hopefully live long enough to call for backup. Only one problem…Keith couldn’t act to save his life, which is currently on the line.

Two: he could do what he’s good at; fight. Though that also poses a few problems, he still doesn’t know exactly what was wrong with Lance. He didn’t know what could stop him, or if he could hurt the real Lance on accident. Also Lance was armed, while he wasn’t.

Three: just pray that Pidge would come around, or maybe that Shiro would walk in needing to tell him something. They would notice his predicament, and hopefully help him.

“ _Keith~_ ” Lance said with a hidden threat.

He was getting impatient, and Keith was running out of viable options. The tension in the air was suffocating. Keith could practically feel the murderous rage flowing off of Lance.

Just as Keith was about to make a reckless decision a thunderous roar made both of them jump in surprise. Keith felt he could cry from relief, he was saved.

Lance had jumped away in surprise, putting enough space between them that Keith could run. Red put up her shield when Keith got close, separating the two. Unfortunately, he couldn’t effectively use Red in the confined hanger space, but he still climbed into the pilot chair.

As soon as he sat down he could feel that she was trying to tell him something. He closes his eyes, attempting to understand what Red was saying. The lions couldn’t communicate in words, so misunderstandings were common.

He could tell that she was passing a message for Blue, and it was about Lance. Though that’s where things got hazy. Something about Lance’s room, and Keith’s journal? Two Lances?? Keith was becoming increasingly confused the more Red tried to explain.

“Red slow down!”

An impatient grumble was all he got for an answer. Keith noticed a faint clanging noise, only to notice a rage filled Lance slamming the space wrench on Red’s force field repeatedly, trying to break through.

Keith shook his head, clearing it. He let out a breath, closing his eyes again. He could feel Red’s urgency about passing this message along. He began to voice his conclusions out loud, letting Red give him a yes or no.

“Lance has an evil twin?” He knew it sounded stupid, but that’s what he was getting from Red’s message. Red’s growl signified a no.

“Umm, Lance is being controlled by an alien?” Red gave him a less affirmative ‘no’, signifying that he was closer to the right answer.

Red showed him two Lances again, but this time one looked evil while the other was goofing off.

Everything finally connected. “There are two Lances! One is an alien with his form and the other is the real Lance?!”

Red purred affirmative. “Where is the real Lance?”

He closed his eyes. “Lance’s room, got it.”

That solved one of Keith’s problems, but now he had to face the one directly in front of him. He could fight, now knowing that he wouldn’t be hurting the real Lance. Unfortunately, Keith was an idiot, who had rushed out of his room without his bayard. This was probably the first time in years that he didn’t have it with him. Keith had stopped carrying his Marmora Blade around after it almost destroyed their negotiations, but that was years ago. Though it would have been helpful right now.

How could he have forgotten it at such a vital time!

He scanned the screen in front of him, quickly forming a plan of attack. What could he use as a weapon? Where should he avoid, so that he won’t get cornered? He still knew nothing about this alien Lance. He could be insanely strong or fast, but Keith couldn’t stay in his lion forever.

With a shaky plan, at best, he exited Red. ‘Lance’ wouldn’t be fooled if Keith tried to play innocent, he had to get the first hit.

‘Lance’ had stopped attacking Red’s force field, now silently following Keith’s every move. Keith took slow steps towards the right, ‘Lance’ following him on the other side. When he stopped the two locked eyes in a battle of intimidation, neither wanting to look away first.

He felt Red shift into a standing position behind him, wordlessly asking if he was ready.

“As I’ll ever be….”

The next minuet passed in the blink of an eye, a flurry of motion and battle cries. Red dropped her shield, roaring at ‘Lance’ to put some distance between the two. Keith nearly ran into the last parts of the shield, diving towards the work tools.

‘Lance’ hadn’t backed away as much as Keith would have preferred, but he’d have to deal with it. Slamming the toolbox open he took out what he liked to refer to as a space saw. It was made to be able to cut almost any substance in the universe, used mostly for building large spaceships. Incredibly sharp, and resembling a dagger, it was exactly what Keith needed.

‘Lance’ let out a yell, running straight for Keith. He gracefully side stepped the alien’s clumsy swing with the space wrench. Keith used his momentum to swipe his dagger at the alien’s back. A triumphant grin set on his face as he heard a cry of pain.

‘Lance’ quickly turned to face Keith, hand clutching his injured shoulder. He let out an animalistic growl that should have been impossible for human vocal cords.

Keith didn’t let the sound phase him. Prepared for the next attack, he let the alien rush at him. He blocked the heavy wrench with his saw, both sides pushing against the other. Keith quickly freed his left had from its grip on the saw, and moved it to press into the free-bleeding shoulder wound.

Keith grimaced as he felt the cold black liquid that was oozing from it’s injury. His grip tightened, fingers digging in. The creature let out a shrill scream, dropping the wrench. All of it’s attention now on trying to free itself from Keith’s grip.

Keith kicked the wrench away, and stabbed at the wailing creature. Keith grip became loose due to it’s blood, allowing it to dive away before Keith’s saw could meet it’s mark. He looked down on it, as it hissed at him from the floor, trying to crawl away.

Keith wasn’t going to let it run, and try to hurt the rest of his team members.

It quickly scrambled to it’s feet, eyes filled with rage. “…Human...” It garbled out in a shrill tongue, before spitting on the ground.

Keith stopped, against his better judgment, listening to it.

“What about humans?”

“Human!” It corrected, pointing at him. “Do not get in my way human….”

“And why not? You hurt my..uh…teammate. I don’t know, nor care, what you want.” Keith shot back, not sure what to refer to Lance as.

“I will finish my mission.” It continued on, seemingly speaking to itself now. “…even if I must get rid of any obstacles.”

It looked around quickly, head snapping to and fro. Once it was done, it locked eyes with Keith. “Goodbye human….”

Keith raised a questioning eyebrow, watching as the creature transformed.

A bright light made Keith shield his eyes, as soon as it was gone he looked back to the spot….the _empty_ spot.

Suddenly on high alert, Keith began to search for the alien. He didn’t have long before he was thrown across the room by an invisible force. The impact forced the breath out of him, and he struggled to get it back.

He scrambled onto his hands and knees, searching for his foe.

He couldn’t see anything until a blur of motion caught his eye. The damn thing was the same alien that had attacked them on the last planet they had gone to. It explained the whole copycat thing, but it was nearly invisible in it’s true form.

Keith didn’t remember them being this strong, or fast. He was at a major disadvantage; it could hurt him, but his weapon wouldn’t do anything. Though….he had injured it when it looked like Lance. Maybe saw could hurt his opponent.

Keith stood to face it head on, not having a chance at trying to run now. It dashed at him, as he took a practiced swing towards it. Before he could tell what was happening, his world turned upside down.

Keith was slammed to the floor, the full impact felt without his paladin armor. He let out a pained wheeze, already feeling the forming bruises. He had hit his head as well, making it difficult for him for counter the alien’s next move.

Up close, he could see that the alien had a humanoid shape to it, unlike the ones they had faced before. A hand latched onto Keith’s shirt, lifting him off of the floor. He grappled at the alien’s hand, finding that it’s strength was now much more than his own.

It was strong, fast, And it was super pissed at Keith….great.

He still had the saw in his grip, and he tried to get in another hit. Out of sheer luck he stabbed the saw into the arm that was holding him. It let out another scream of pain, launching Keith into the nearest wall.

It threw him right into some metal shelving, and Keith was sure he had broken a rib. It didn’t help that the shelf also fell on him once he hit the floor.

He let out a soft cry of pain, when the weight landed on him. He could feel that he now had a major wound in his leg, a possible broken rib, and a shit ton of heavy bruising. His vision was swimming, and he believed his head was now bleeding, so add possible concussion to the list.

He would only have minimal bruising if he had his paladin armor on, but life never worked out in his favor.

He couldn’t see where the alien was currently, but he assumed it was close by, enjoying his pain.

“Keith!”

Damn, did he really hit his head that hear? Because Keith could swear that he was hearing Shiro’s voice.

“Keith, are you alright?!” Shiro’s voice was closer now.

Keith was trapped under the shelving on his stomach, so he had to turn his head awkwardly to look around.

He could see a slightly blurry figure running towards him, followed by a few others. Keith let out a soft laugh in relief, the rest of Team Voltron had come to save him.

Familiar voices expressed various worried statements, that Keith didn’t answer.

“Hunk help me with this.” Shiro asked in a serious tone.

Keith assumed Hunk nodded, because he never heard him agree. He quickly felt the crushing weight lifted off of him, and he took in a deep breath.

Sadly, the breath was a big mistake. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, which made him grunt in pain. He curled in on himself, willing for the pain to go away.

“Ohhhh man. That’s a lot of blood.” He heard Hunk say squimishly.

The statement caught his attention, so he busied himself with a quick scan of his injuries. If he didn’t make a trip to the healing pods soon, Keith was going to have some nasty scars.

A part of the shelving had broken, jaggedly cutting along the side of his right leg. Keith could only stare at the mangled flesh, hoping that it wasn’t as bad as it looked. Keith needed find something to wrap it with, to stop the bleeding.

Quick movement caught his attention.

“Shiro, I was attacked by one of those aliens from the last planet we visited. It must have attacked Lance, that’s why he’s been acting so weird lately. Though this alien is a lot stronger and faster than the ones we faced before….and it has a personal vendetta against me. It’s pretty much invisible unless its moving, so be careful.” Keith rushed, trying to explain before it decided to attack again.

Everyone listened with rapt attention, glancing to one another, eyes widening as he continued.

Shiro nodded, looking around the hanger. “Is it still in here?”

Keith nodded, silently gesturing its general position with his head. Shiro explained their plan of action with practiced hand movements, so that the alien wouldn’t understand.

In moments Shiro, Hunk, Matt, and Allura were prepared for battle, while Coran and Dr. Holt rushed to Keith’s aid.

It took Keith a moment to realize that the entire team was ready for battle; Armor on and bayards in hand.

Dr. Holt saw Keith’s confused stare as he studied his fellow paladins. When Keith turned to question him, he proudly explained.

“Pidge.” Was all he needed to say.

Keith understood immediately, no longer regretting that he told her about his-now _true_ -theories.

The peace ended much too quickly for Keith’s liking.

The alien charged, ignoring the others in favor of getting to Keith. Keith just smirked at it from his spot on the floor, knowing that it was largely underestimating his team mates.

Sure, he might now hold the title of best fighter on Team Voltron, but if his fellow paladins teamed up, Keith didn’t stand a chance. They were stronger together, having become a true team during their space adventures.

Allura had been gifted with a weapon, much like the one she had during her time as the Blue Paladin, during one of their diplomatic meetings. She was exceptionally skilled with it, and so she quickly threw a lasso towards the alien.

She stopped it’s movement for Shiro and Matt to confront it, with Hunk providing cover fire if it escaped.

It hadn’t expected to be so easily subdued, thrashing in it’s restraints as Shiro and Matt approached it. It used it’s strength to swing the whip towards it’s attackers, dragging Allura along with it.

Shiro skillfully jumped over it, but Matt was not so athletically inclined. The whip hit him sending him sliding a few feet away, before Allura could stop it. Allura had so much momentum behind her that she collided into Hunk, sending them both to the floor.

It clawed itself free, with only Shiro in it’s direct path now.

“Say Keith—“ Matt said, using his staff to help him stand again, “ just what in space did you do to piss it off so much??”

Keith was currently getting patched up with the space equivalent of a first aid kit, that Coran had brought with him. Coran had to be careful with what he used, because not everything was safe to use on humans or Galra—which Keith was both.

He let out a pained grunt as Dr. Holt helped him sit up, so that Coran could check his ribs. “Uh, I stabbed it.”

“Wait, I thought you guys couldn’t injure the ones that were on the planet?!” Matt yelled at him. “Katie I swear if you lied I’ll tell dad!” He then yelled into his earpiece.

From such a distance, Keith couldn’t hear Pidge’s answer, but Matt’s wince made Keith think that he’d rather not hear her choice words.

Shiro and the alien had been circling each other as the others conversed.

“Keith, you said that this one is different, which I can see now.” He said, looking it up and down. “So we should be able to stop it.”

Shiro’s arm glowed a deadly purple, as he took the first strike against the alien. The creature jumped away in terror, seemingly forgetting Keith for a few moments.

Shiro had gone into gladiator mode, not giving the alien any time to recover before striking again. He did a series of complicated steps, effectively landing a direct hit to it.

More of the same black liquid poured out of it’s wound, as it once again screamed. It stumbled over itself, falling to the floor. If it hadn’t attacked him, Keith might have felt pity for it…might. Keith was a warrior, he often felt muted emotions, at best, towards death and killing.

All of their hands were covered in blood, dreams filled with screams, and memories filled with death. They were too young to have experienced what they had, but the universe had needed them. Keith had done this for so many years that he barely felt anything about death anymore. Only two thoughts were in his mind when going into battle; protect his team mates and complete his mission.

They all noticed the alien’s plan too late.

It used its incredible speed to cross the entirety of the hanger. It approached the air lock doors, which were used to let the lions into space.

They watched in horror as it began prying the air lock doors open.

Shiro made an executive decision commanding that the team get as far away from the doors as possible. Hunk and Shiro picked Keith up quickly, being as careful as they could in the time they had. Keith took on the pain stoically, not wanting to hinder their escape.

The air lock would open the rest of the way automatically if pried open enough, it was a safety measure in case the doors ever got stuck. Though that meant they would all be sucked out of the hanger into space. Three of the seven currently did not have a suit to allow them to safely maneuver around space.

They rushed to the opposite wall of the hanger, which luckily had a few hooks and shelves bolted into the wall. It was the best option they had, because the alien was still dead set on getting sucked into space.

The deafening sound of rushing air exploded. Keith did his best to tighten his grip on the metal hook, which was used to hang larger tools on, as he began to feel the pull towards space.

The force got substantially stronger in a tick, making Keith cry out in pain as he was jerked away from the wall. Coran never told him if his rib was broken or not, regardless he could feel the sharp pain.

The makeshift bandages on his leg began to unravel, getting sucked into the vortex of space.

“Coran!!! How long until they close?!!!!” Hunk yelled, barely heard over the roar. His large hands slipping from their purchase.

“Just another tick!!” Coran answered, mustache impossibly perfect for the situation they were in.

Shiro did the best he could to help Keith keep his grip, but he too needed both hands to prevent himself from flying away.

Keith never thought he’d be grateful for the sound of closing doors, but lo and behold he was exceptionally relieved.

As soon as the wind slowed, Keith’s arms gave out. He collapsed to the floor, clutching his side. His leg was bleeding again, and Keith wanted nothing more than to take a long nap.

“Hey we’re not done yet, we need to get you to a healing pod.” Shiro said, ruffling Keith’s hair.

Before Keith could give a rude answer, Pidge bust through the hangar doors shouting.

“Holy fuck is everyone alright?! I saw everything, and shit that was close!!” Her father raised an unamused eyebrow at her cursing, but decided to save his comments for later.

Coran flitted around Keith, making sure he’d live until they got to the healing pods. Once he was done, the team slowly made their way out.

Keith was too prideful to be carried, but he allowed Shiro to be a crutch. His brother shouldered three fourths of Keith’s weight, practically dragging him along. Keith would never admit that he could barely walk in a straight line.

Keith refused to be put into a healing pod until they had found Lance. He told the team about Red’s message, and so they set Keith down to go find Lance.

Keith lay propped up against the wall, facing the healing pods. He closed his eyes, exhausted with not more adrenaline pumping through his veins. He could really feel the soreness seeping into his bones, and the pain that came with taking every breath.

He thought back on just how strange of a week he’d had. He let out a small chuckle thinking back even further. Team Voltron had some pretty weird experiences in the past five years.

Five years. It felt like he’d been floating in space, fighting for his life, for so much longer than a mere 5 years. Even through all of the near death experiences, Keith had never wished to be anywhere else. He had a place he belonged. He had friends.

Keith had a family.

Before he could get sappy enough to make himself cry, he heard the others approaching.

Hunk was carrying a half-conscious Lance, with Pidge anxiously jogging at his side. The others surrounded them, breaking off to complete their separate tasks.

Allura and Coran made a beeline to the healing pods, each setting up one. Hunk and Pidge approached Keith, gently setting Lance down to the right of him.

Pidge opened her mouth to begin speaking when Shiro called both of them away. Along with Matt the four quietly conversed, then rounded the corner with practiced urgency.

Keith tried to sneak a glace at Lance, needing to know what kind of condition he was in.

As he turned his head, he found Lance staring intently at Keith’s bandaged leg. Noticing he’d been caught, he quickly put on a lopsided smile.

“What happened to you?” He asked with a casualness completely inappropriate for their conditions.

Keith rolled his eyes. Well, at least this was he knew this was the real Lance. “Shut up.”

“Awww don’t be like that Keith. You know you missed my dashing good looks.” It was said with all of Lance’s personality, but Keith could tell just how exhausted Lance truly was.

Keith couldn’t help the small smile that made it’s way to his lips. He looked back to Lance only to see him with a ridiculous expression.

“What?” Keith questioned defensively, looking at Lance’s amazed filled eyes and open jaw.

“You—you!”

“What?!” Keith tried again.

“You just smiled at one of my jokes!!!” Lance said overjoyed.

Keith must have resembled a fish, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, no sound escaping. He felt his cheeks grow warm, and quickly turned his head away.

He heard Lance let out a joyful chuckle, “Oh no~ Keith is embarrassed!”

“Am not.” Keith grumbled, refusing to turn around.

“What, is Keithy too proud to admit that he’s glad to have me back?” Lance teased.

“I’m really happy that you came back, Lance.” Keith said after a moment. Keith whispered it not wanting Lance to hear it, but the universe liked to screw him over.

“WAIT WHAT?!” Lance yelled, erupting into a coughing fit.

Keith then turned quickly to make sure he was alright, aggravating his rib of unknown condition.

They both doubled over in pain, making eyes contact after they had recovered. Keith couldn’t help the small smile he gave Lance.

They both erupted into deep laughter, so true that they were crying. Keith felt so elated that he was able to ignore the stabbing pain in his chest. They ended up much closer than before, sitting with shoulders touching.

When the final streams of laughter filtered out, Lance dropped his head to Keith’s shoulder. He immediately froze, unsure of what to do. Soon enough he decided that after all the shit he’d been through, he deserved this one small kindness.

“Keith?”

“Hum?” He hummed in response to Lance. Neither took their eyes off of Allura and Coran, watching them work steadily.

“I’m really glad you guys found me…”

The melancholy tone of Lance’s voice struck Keith’s very soul. Did he think they would have just left him to die? Was Lance still suffering from his self esteem issues. He had made Lance promise to come talk to him if it ever started up again.

“Lance, what—“

“I’m really happy, that’s all. I was afraid that I would die with so many regrets. I have…things…that need to be said to, um certain people…” Lance ended sounding more confused than unsure.

As Keith opened his mouth to continue their conversation, two figures appeared in front of them.

“Time to get you two some well needed healing pod help!” Coran chirped.

Coran let Lance climb onto his back, piggybacking him across the room. Allura helped Keith up, supporting most of his weight. Keith never noticed how large the room was until he had to make the trek across it.

Coran had taken some extra time to reprogram the pods so that the suits wouldn’t be needed. Keith was grateful for his consideration. He wasn’t sure either of them could have easily gotten them on.

“Hey, I bet I’ll be the first one out of here.” Lance challenged, as Coran helped him step into the pod.

“Heh. You’re on.”

Lance weakly finger gunned at him, before the glass closed.

Finally Keith could rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't noticed by now, I am a slow writer. I do apologize for the long waits, but I want my work to be as good as I can make it. Thank you for putting up with me!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovely readers!! I am so sorry I'm just now posting this chapter. A lot suddenly happened in my life, and I have had absolutely no time to write. I've decided to split this last chapter in two parts, because I can't stand leaving you guys on a cliffhanger any longer. I swear the final chapter will be up as soon as I can proofread it.
> 
> Thank you all for reading this far!!

_Keith’s POV_

A hissing sound filled Keith’s ears. Bright light blinded him, as he fell forwards unable to support his own weight.

“Hey there sleepy head. Looks like I won our bet.” A soft voice teased, as Keith fell into their warm embrace.

Keith groaned, blindly latching onto his mystery savior. It took all of Keith’s strength to open his eyes. “Lance?” Keith was surprised by how scratchy his own voice sounded.

“You okay? Can you stand?” Lance asked calmly, but Keith could hear the undertone of worry.

It took a moment, but Keith soon realized that they were extremely close to one another. He might have panicked a little, pushing himself away from Lance’s warmth. “Uh…yeah. I-I think so.”

Keith was fine for all of five seconds before a splitting headache overtook his senses. An intense wave of nausea knocked him off of his feet, making him land in Lance’s arms for a second time.

“Keith!?”

As quickly as it had hit him, it was gone. Keith looked into the beautiful ocean blue of Lance’s eyes. He couldn’t tell what emotion Lance was looking at him with, but it made his heart flutter.

It was soft. Too damn soft for Keith to know how to handle.

Flustered, Keith turned away. “Uh…I’m fine. It’s just never taken this long for me to recover from the healing pods.” Keith said examining his own hands.

He was getting increasingly uncomfortable the longer he was stuck in Lance’s arms. Keith knew he couldn’t stand without falling again, but the way Lance was looking at him….it almost looked like—No. Keith wasn’t going to make up hopeful delusions.

“Keith….” The tone of Lance’s voice makes him look up instantly. “you were in there for over a week…”

Keith can’t keep the shock off of his face. “What?!”

Lance had taken a blaster to the head two years ago…. he’d only been in the pods for five days. Pidge had been drowned when they were ambushed on a mission three years ago. She’d recovered in a little over four days. Hell, Keith had taken the record of six days only a year ago. He’d been stabbed clean through on a solo mission, the team was almost too late.

He hadn’t been that badly injured. How could it have taken over a week?!

“I think I need to sit down.” Keith warned, a new wave of nausea washing over him. Lance quickly moved him to the chair he had been occupying only a few minutes ago.

“I’m—we’re glad you’re okay, Keith.” Lance quickly corrected himself.

There was a tense moment of silence where the two simply stared at each other. That stupidly soft emotion made it’s way to both of their faces. Keith was so happy that Lance- the real Lance- was fine. He was right here in front of his eyes.

Keith wanted to kiss him so badly. He wanted to tell Lance just how much he liked him. How scared Keith was of losing him.

Keith steeled his nerves. He was going to do it. Keith leaned in slowly, the two seemed to gravitate towards each other. Lance’s expression mirrored his own, and god Keith wanted it to mean the Lance liked him back. They got closer and closer, until--

Lance began yelling. He quickly broke the tension in the air, hands flying to his head. “HOLY CROW! I gotta’ tell the rest of the team you’re alive!” Lance said nervously, already sprinting halfway across the room, before turning back around. “Don’t move…..Stay.”

Keith could faintly hear him whisper to himself, a faint blush coating his cheeks. Disappointment filled Keith the further away Lance got.

Maybe he was just reading too much into the situation.

Once Lance left the room turned cold and lonely. Weariness crept into Keith’s very being. Keith began to force his thoughts in a different direction. Like how he shouldn’t be this tired, the healing pod effects should have already worn off.

Luckily Keith didn’t get much time to brood, before the chorus of his team mates voice’s erupted in the hallway.

The door slid open as they quickly filed in. Hunk and Pidge were sprinting towards him, Hunk already in tears. Lance trailed behind them, all traces of awkwardness gone. Matt, Shiro, and Allura weren’t far behind, all sporting pleased smiles.

Keith didn’t get a chance to wonder where Coran and Dr. Holt were before he was being crushed. Pidge quite literally jumped on top of him, as Hunk picked them both up.

“Group hug!!” Lance yelled, jumping on the three of them.

“Oh yeah!!!” Matt joined in yelling, running towards the group.

Shiro and Allura, being the parents they are, just calmly walked to join the hug.

Keith couldn’t breathe, but he wasn’t going to say anything. Everyone was having too good of a time, and honestly he was happy too.

“Now now, children--” Keith faintly heard Dr. Holt’s voice as he entered the room.

His voice was suddenly cut off by Coran’s. “I’m sure we’re all happy that Keith is alive, but he hasn’t fully recovered.

Reluctantly the group dispersed, but no one strayed very far. Keith took the chance to discreetly take a glance at Lance. Lance seemed to be looking anywhere but in Keith’s direction.

“Here now, drink up.” Coran directed, shoving a glass of neon purple fluid into Keith face, before Keith could continue his pessimistic thoughts.

Keith blanched at the smell. It took all of his will power not to throw up, but Keith dutifully took the glass. Holding his nose, he downed the liquid as quickly as he could. He wanted to throw up so badly, the taste was indescribable. Though believe it or not, this was not the worst thing he’d ever tasted in the universe--it certainly made it in the top five, though.

Hunk being the amazing person he is, quickly gave Keith the space equivalent of an energy bar. He wasn’t necessarily hungry, but he wolfed it down all the same. It took the offensive taste from his mouth, and Keith couldn’t have been more grateful.

Once he was finished he stood up, and handed the glass back to Coran. Keith quickly realized that his headache was gone, along with the nausea. He took a few steps, shook out his limbs. Keith felt like he had just woken up from a refreshing nap.

Coran quickly shoed the others away, so that he could do a final check up on Keith.

“So sonny do you feel alright? Anything feel numb or itchy?”

“Uhh..no. Everything is fine now, but I felt really nauseous after leaving the pod.”

“Well of course you did! You spent nearly eight days healing, you were bound to catch the zaughgs!” Coran explained as if Keith should have known this.

“The-the zaug—zauhs---the the what??” Keith stuttered unable to pronounce the very obviously Altean word.

“The zaughgs! Oh I guess you Earthlings would call it healing pod sickness!” Coran cheered, tinkering around with some things on his desk.

“You can get sick from the healing pods?”

“Why of course my boy! There can be too much of a good thing.”

“So the purple liquid that I drank cures healing pod sickness?”

“Oh yes, the porgoff saliva fixed you up!” Coran corrected.

Keith’s mouth went dry.”….saliva….”

“Yes, it was my great-grandfather recipe. He found the porgoff’s saliva had many healing properties if ingested. It can be quite effective against the slipperies, but alas were not near any porgoff colonies when I was afflicted.” Coran explained.

Keith had spent over five years in space learning about Altean culture, and sometimes it was absolutely baffling.

How exactly had Coran’s great grandfather found that the saliva had healing properties if ingested?!

Keith wanted to throw up again. He had just drunken a glass of some space creature’s saliva.

Luckily the rest of his check up went off with out a hitch. Right as Coran gave him the okay to leave, Keith asked the question he’d had for a while.

“Coran?”

“Yes young paladin?”

“Why was I stuck in the pod for over a week? I’ve had worse injuries before.”

“Oh well that’s simple, head concussions take quite a while to heal. It is a delicate process that can not be rushed. The pod had to heal your bodily injuries before it could move onto your concussion.”

“Oh.” Keith had been expecting much worse.

“Yes, nothing to worry about.”

“Thanks Coran.”

Keith left felling much better. Nothing was wrong with him, everyone was okay…Lance was okay.

“Hey there, mullet”

Oh speak of the devil.

“Lance.” Keith greeted back.

They fell in step next to each other, a peaceful silence settling over them. It seemed that the awkwardness from earlier had dissipated, and Keith was fine with that.

“So,” Lance asked, breaking the silence, “everything working? You feeling okay now?”

Keith couldn’t help the smile that slid onto his face. “Yeah, everything is fine now. That purple stuff,” Keith said in disgust, “worked it’s magic.”

Lance shuddered as Keith said that. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Lance sighed, “You know what that was, right?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Yeah, who do you think had to go get it?” Lance said seemingly having haunting flashbacks.

“You guys had to collect it?!”

“I had to collect it!” Lance yelled with his signature dramatic flair. “There was no “Team Voltron” this time. Oh noooo, it was all me!”

Keith waited silently for an explanation.

“The castle’s sensors picked up on a near by porgoff colony.”

“Hold on, these things live in space?”

“Yeah, do you remember when you had to go find a Weblum for scaultrite ….” Lance led on.

“Oh no.”

“OHHHH yes! They’re actually closely related to Weblums!”

Keith had even more questions about Coran’s great-grandfather now. Who the fuck finds a giant space creature, and decides maybe they should try some of its saliva?

Lance continued his story. “Let’s just say no one wanted to go, and I’m not the best at paper rock scissors.”

Keith couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his lips. He could imagine the paladins, the Defenders of the Universe, intensely playing a game of paper rock scissors so they wouldn’t have to go collect porgoff saliva.

Keith slapped his hands over his mouth as quickly as he could, but it was too late. Lance was staring at him, jaw hanging open.

“Did….did you just laugh at a story I was telling?”

“No?” Keith tried, warmth rushing up his neck.

“Don’t lie! You totally think I’m hilarious!!” Lance exclaimed, overjoyed.

“Ughh, just continue with the story.” Keith groaned playfully.

“Fine, fine, but you will never live this down. I’ve only gotten you to laugh like twenty times in the last two years. Anyways—“

“Hold on, you keep count of how many times you’ve made me laugh.”

“Uh” Keith watched in amazement as color spread across Lance’s cheeks to the tips of his ears. “What no…I mean that would be weird, right?” He asked meekly, staring intently at his shoes.

“No, would I think it was cute.”

Lance’s head snapped up to stare at Keith.

Keith couldn’t understand why he had gotten such a reaction, all he had said was—Keith eye’s widened comically.

“No no no, not like that! I don’t mean cute like cute, I mean like not cute. Like as in--” Keith really wished he could stop embarrassing himself in front of Lance. He could feel the warmth all the way down his neck, as he rambled on trying to save himself.

Lance suddenly began laughing, and Keith couldn’t help but join in.

Lance wiped tears from his eyes, and looked at Keith. “Twenty three.”

Once again that stupidly soft look crossed Lance’s face. The same nervous tension returned.

Keith had to look away, that was when he realized they were standing in front of his door. Lance followed Keith’s gaze, coming to the same sad realization.

“Oh, um, I guess I should, um, let you clean up.” Lance said, awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I, yeah I guess so.”

Neither one of them moved.

Oh god this is awkward. This feels like the end of a date? Like the cliché ones, where the guy walks the girl to her door. Wait, isn’t this where they’d normally kiss? God I want to kiss him. No, I can’t do that. I don’t want to lose this friendship.

“Um, I…” Keith stuttered, gesturing to his room.

“Oh, uh yeah.” Lance answered, taking a step back. He almost looked, disappointed?

Lance turned on his heel, heading further down the hallway, and Keith placed his hand to the scanner.

“Oh, uh, Keith!” Lance yelled, from his spot down the hall.

“Yes!” Keith yelled back, maybe too quickly. Too hopefully.

“Hunk is throwing us a celebratory dinner, because he’s happy we’re both okay. It’ll probably be done by the time you finish changing and stuff, so head towards the kitchen soon.”

“Oh, alright.” Keith answered, trying to hide his disappointment.

And with that the two went their separate ways.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my readers, guess who forgot they were writing a fanfic??? I am so sorry I left you guys for so long. I had to completely reread the fic to remember what I was writing (my chapter outline confused me so bad). If my writing changes in the middle, its because I had half of this chapter written already. All that aside, I DID IT!! I finally got the last chapter up!! YAY

~About two weeks later ~

_Lance’s POV_

The last two weeks had been great in Lance’s opinion. He felt great, there had been no dangerous missions, and most of all Keith was fine.

Though, he couldn’t believe how much of a coward he was. Lance had sworn to himself that he was going to confess to Keith, right before he had gone into the healing pod. ‘I have things I need to tell certain people’, he had said.

The only thing that could be considered furthering his relationship with Keith, was that he had gotten a lot better at making Keith laugh.

They had jokingly made up parameters about what counted and what didn’t. It would only count if it was just Lance and Keith alone, no group laughter. An entertained scoff didn’t count, but silent laughter did.

They had been hanging out a bit more than normal, which meant more awkward moment occurred as well. After a particularly good time, they lapsed into this weird silence where it seemed they both wanted something, but nothing ever happened.

Lance knew exactly what he wanted, but Keith was a different subject. It had actually been costing Lance sleep, what could Keith want to happen in their awkward silences? Lance’s thoughts kept floating back to the same conclusion. Maybe he wanted the same thing as Lance, but that was only wishful thinking.

There was no way he could like Lance. Was there?

Lance let out a sigh as he made his way towards the kitchen for dinner. This was hopeless, he was never going to figure Keith out at this rate.

He entered the kitchen, seeing Hunk’s heavenly space food prepared, and already missing portions. Lance realized that he must have been the last one here, so he quickly made a plate and began heading towards what he proclaimed was the dining room.

Entering the sliding doors, he saw everyone was already seated. He must not have been that late, because it seemed they had all just started eating.

Lance made his way to his usual seat, in between Hunk and Keith, and across from Matt.

“Nice of you to join us, Lance.” Shiro said.

Lance smirked, and finger gunned at him once his plate was safely on the table. “Isn’t it though. I’m such a gift to this world—or universe I guess.”

“Just sit down and eat, would you.” Keith grumbled from beside him.

“Aww Keith, do you really want to be beside me that badly?” He teased, following Keith’s directions.

Keith ducked his head down, hiding beneath his bangs. “Who’d want to be anywhere near you?”

“You apparently~” Lance said with a smirk, leaning closer to the red paladin.

Keith stubbornly refused to look at Lance, taking a large bite of his alien dinner. Keith then looked across the table to Pidge, and started a conversation.

“So, Pidge—“

“Uh-uh, don’t drag me into this.” She answered. “Keep your lovers quarrel between the two of you.”

Lance and Keith looked to each other in an almost comical fashion. They both quickly began defending themselves, breaking out into a matching blush.

“What?! Me and mullet?! L-lovers…..” Lance screamed, ridiculously waving his hands around.

“Pidge, please don’t joke like that.” Keith laughed nervously.

By now the entire table had gone quiet, tuning into the conversation that was creating so much commotion. All eyes were focused on the very embarrassed red and blue paladins, who in turn, refused to look at each other.

Pidge was the one to break the silence. “Guys,” She said, addressing everyone but Lance and Keith, “I can’t take it anymore.”

“Now Pidge, hold on a second.” Shiro, being the voice of reason he is, said.

“I’m sorry Shiro, but there is only so much awkward sexual tension a girl can take!”

Embarrassment forgotten, Lance and Keith look to each other for answers. They shrugged together, both equally confused.

“Uh, Pidge what—“ Lance tried, before Allura cut him off.

“Pidge you don’t mean—“

“Yes, Princess I do.”

“Pidge, I thought that was our emergency backup plan!” Hunk cried.

“I think their obliviousness,” She gestured towards the two, “qualifies as an emergency Hunk! They’re _never_ going to get it if we leave them to their own devices!”

“Really, what is going on!” Keith demanded.

“Operation Klance!!!” Pidge yelled, slamming her hand down on the table. The bang caused the table occupants to jump in surprise. “That’s what’s going on Keith!!”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Lance cried, hopelessly confused.

“It means--!” Pidge was cut off by Matt, who quickly slapped his hand over her mouth.

“Ha ha ha, _very_ funny Pidge.” Matt said in a warning tone. He put on a very obviously forced smile. “She’s just sleep deprived, you know how she gets when—OW!”

Matt pulled his hand away from his younger sibling as if he’d been burned. He cradled his hand, than now had fresh teeth marks in it, close to his chest.

He gave her a betrayed look, one that she answered with a displeased glare.

“What it means is—“ She continued

“Alright that’s enough of that!” Shiro announced, quickly making his way towards Pidge.

Lance watched in absolute amazement as Shiro threw her over his shoulder and started towards the door. Both Matt and Dr. Holt followed, wordlessly.

Little did Lance know that this dinner would be one that changed his life forever.

He currently sat in shocked silence with Keith, neither having any clue as to what was happening. It seemed that they had been the only ones left out of an important discussion.

Pidge never gave up, she thrashed and struggled against Shiro’s strong hold at every step. Matt had once again covered her mouth, as Dr. Holt opened the doors for them.

Pidge gave particularly valiant effort as they reached the doorway. Lance could see the exact moment when Shiro lost his hold on her. She broke free for just long enough to yell, “You two idiots are in love with each other! Just fuck already---!!!”

The entire room was plunged into a tense silence, all eyes carefully sliding towards the two paladins.

Lance felt like time had completely stopped. What had Pidge just said? Keith was in love with him? There was absolutely no way.

Lance began to look around the room, meeting each of his friend’s eyes. There was a scared or worried expression evident on every last one of them. Every pair of eyes he met made those words sink heavier into his mind. Every face made those words seem more possible. Every anxious expression made him more and more hopeful that Pidge was telling the absolute truth.

Lance swallowed thickly, steeling his nerves. He slowly turned his head, not stopping until Keith’s face was directly in front of his.

He didn’t need a mirror to know that his expression matched Keith’s.

There was so much hope and yearning, but there was so much fear in their eyes.

Could this be the answer Lance had been losing sleep over? Could Keith have wanted the same thing he had wanted for so long.

~About a week later~

_Keith’s POV_

The last week had been _awkward_ to say the least.

After Pidge’s sudden declaration at dinner, he and Lance had been avoiding the topic. They danced around one another in a cautious and fearful manner.

Pidge had been reprimanded severely, but didn’t feel any regret. She had done ‘what needed to be done.’ She had even stated that Lance and Keith would thank her for it later.

Keith just couldn’t make himself believe that Lance actually liked him. There was just no possible way. What could be so good about him?

Keith had spent most of the week on the training deck, in his room, just generally avoiding Lance. Keith was positive that Lance was doing the same.

The ships other inhabitants had been treating him like a feral animal, one that could attack at any given moment. Either that, or like he was made of glass, and would break if someone so much as breathed too heavily in his general direction. Their obvious caution was starting to piss Keith off.

Keith brought his bayard down with a grunt, striking down the last robot of this training sequence. He let his sword dematerialize, feeling the exhaustion setting into his muscles. He still had some pent up emotions to fight out, but decided to stop before he collapsed.

Keith wiped some of the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, then bent down to grab his discarded jacket from the floor. He made his way to the doors, throwing his jacket over his shoulder.

Keith froze in the doorway. His eyes landed on Lance’s back, who seemed to be talking to himself animatedly. Keith didn’t get a chance to say anything before Lance confidently spun on his heel.

Once their eyes met, Lance screamed in surprise. “Keith!”

“Lance.” He answered flatly, in return.

“I uh—Keith you are…uh- Tennessee?---“ Lance stumbled over his words, ending the statement/question (Keith wasn’t really sure at this point) in a pained groan.

“Wh-what? Am I from Tennessee? Is that what you’re trying to ask?”

Lance had covered his face in shame, and didn’t remove his hands when he nodded to Keith. The whole thing was very amusing to Keith.

“Well, uh, no. Wait, Lance, you _know_ I’m from Texas. Actually, you made fun of me for a month straight after you found out.”

“Oh please just forget this ever happened…” Lance’s voice was high pitched with embarrassment.

Lance made a move to run for it, but Keith’s quick reflexes stopped him.

“Lance wait!” He grabbed the blue paladin’s arm, causing Lance to face him.

At this point Lance’s face resembled Keith’s jacket. He made a weak attempt to pry himself from Keith’s grip.

“Lance, please, just tell me what’s going on.”

“Never!” Lance responded valiantly.

Keith had to acknowledge his determination, it was unwavering. Lance once again tried to escape Keith, to no avail.

This led to a five minuet grapple between the two, both determined to win, but not wanting to really hurt the other. Name calling, hair pulling, and cheap tricks were resorted to. The match was pretty even, until Lance ran out of places to run.

His back was literally and figuratively against a wall. Keith pinned him there, giving him no room to escape.

Keith breathlessly announced, “Ha, I win!”

The two met eyes in a tense moment of silence, then broke out in unrestrained laughter.

“So, now will you tell me what you were trying to say earlier?”

“Ug, please just let me die!” Lance whined, red creeping to his cheeks.

“Lance.” Keith demanded, raising an unamused eyebrow.

Lance did his best to hide his face in their current position. “I said….”

Lance proceeded to run his words together, quietly.

“Lance, you know I couldn’t understand that.” Keith slipped into an affectionate tone, bending his head to catch Lance’s eyes.

Lance looked up, through his eyelashes. With a pout he repeated, “I asked if you were from Tennessee….cause you’re the only ten I see…….”

Keith was stunned, that was not what he had expected.

Then it dawned on him. “Wait, Lance, did you try to use a pick up line on me?!”

“Maybe.” Came the sassy response that could only be described as 100% Lance.

Last week’s chaotic dinner flooded Keith’s mind. He nearly took a step back from the impact of his realizations.

Pidge had been telling the truth.

Pidge wasn’t misunderstanding Lance’s feelings. Lance liked _liked_ Keith. Not just as a friend, or teammate. Lance liked Keith the same way Keith liked Lance.

Mischievous euphoria filled Keith’s being. He couldn’t even begin to stop the smile taking over his lips.

“Lance,” Keith purred teasingly, “could it be that you _like_ me?”

The blush that spread across Lance’s face, like wildfire, was all he needed to confirm his statement.

Lance’s head shot up, him mouth already trying to spew explanations.

Keith promptly shut him up, using his own lips of course.

Lance let out a squeak, but immediately began to kiss Keith back.

Now, no fireworks went off, and it didn’t feel like the stars had aligned, but that didn’t make Keith any less happy. He was kissing Lance, and better yet, Lance was kissing him back.

At some point Keith had let go of Lance’s hands, and both were now tangled in his dark hair. The kiss became deeper and more messy as Keith pressed Lance further into the wall. They were both trying to catch up for all the time they had wasted being to scared to confess.

Keith licked into Lance’s mouth, taking control of the kiss. Lance pulled on Keith hair, making Keith let out an involuntary growl. Lance groaned at the sound, Keith would definitely have use that to his advantage later.

Keith pulled away, with Lance chasing his lips. Lance was putty in Keith’s hands, looking like a complete wreak already. His lips were red and shiny, and his hair was messed up, Keith just couldn’t get enough.

Lance let out a whine, and Keith realized he had just been staring at him for a while now. Keith’s glara instincts to mark his mate flared, and so Keith began to attack Lance’s neck. Keith nipped and sucked, marking Lance’s beautiful dark skin. Lance let out breathy noises of pleasure, bearing more of his neck to Keith.

It didn’t take long before Keith missed Lance’s lips. They met again, wet and messy, both wanting to be even closer to the other.

With their combined coordination, Lance’s jacket was removed without their lips having to part. Keith let his hands move over Lance’s lean chest, moving lower until he could slip his hands under Lance’s shirt.

Lance let out a shriek, and Keith quickly jumped back.

Lance pulled Keith back, laughing. Breathlessly he explained, “Your gloves are cold.”

Keith wordlessly removed his gloves, letting them fall to the ground. Lance grinned, grabbing Keith’s shirt to pull him back into a kiss.

Lance wrapped one of his legs around Keith’s hips, wanting to be closer. Keith supported Lance’s thighs, allowing Lance’s other leg to join the first. Keith could feel Lance’s hardness in this position, and he was sure Lance could feel his.

Keith doesn’t know who started it, but they both began to grind against the other. The sensations were almost overwhelming to Keith. Though Keith didn’t want to stop here, and it didn’t seem like Lance did either. Keith found he could easily hold Lance up with just one hand, so he let his other hand snake beneath Lance’s shirt again.

Keith accidentally brushed over one of Lance’s nipples in his exploration, and he felt Lance shiver at the sensation. Keith did it again, purposefully, and Lance moaned into their kiss.

“Two can play that game, Kogane.”

Not giving him time to respond, Lance reached between them and palmed at Keith’s hardness. Keith let out a loud his at the pleasure.

“You’re going to pay for that McClain.” Keith threatened teasingly.

“Oh really?” Lance’s tone dared Keith.

Without warning, Keith pinched Lance’s nipple. Lance let out a loud shout of pleasure and surprise. Keith enjoyed the response, and did it again. He watched Lance become a whimpering mess by his hands.

If Lance was a wreak before, he certainly looked like a (beautiful) disaster now. Keith wanted nothing more than to mess Lance up more. He wanted to watch Lance come apart completely because of him.

Lance had always been beautiful to Keith, but he’d never looked as open and real as he did now. Lance was trusting his entire being to Keith at this very moment. He could see the vulnerability and sadness that Lance always tried to hide from the team.

Keith wanted to protect Lance from all of the universes’ threats. He wanted to pamper and care for Lance like no one ever had before. Keith wanted to make sure Lance realized how much he was worth as a team mate and as a person.

Keith wasn’t good with words, so he did his best to express his thoughts through his actions.

He kissed Lance deeply and urgently, hoping it would convey how much he cared.

A voice suddenly announced its presence from further down the hallway. “Hey, Keith, have you seen my-----OH GOD MY POOR VIRGIN EYES!!”  Pidge quickly covered her eyes and turned around.

Lance screamed and Keith nearly dropped him in his surprise. Then he nearly lost an eye from Lance’s flailing limbs. They both tried to make themselves look as presentable as possible.

“Pidge please forget everything you just saw!” Lance pleaded, pulling his shirt down.

“You think I’m not trying?!” She yelled back, refusing to face them.

Keith coughed awkwardly, “You can, uh, turn around now…”

“Nope nu-uh, I’m not taking any chances!”

“What happened, is everyone okay?!” Shiro bounded into view, Hunk on his heels, hand activated.

“Physically yeah, just fine and dandy, but my mental state is a different story all together!” Pidge announced, sarcastically, finally removing her hands from her eyes.

Keith saw Shiro look to him for answers, but he really wasn’t sure what to say. “Uh, well you see—“

“They were fucking in the hallway.” Pidge answered blatantly.

Shiro’s eyebrows rose to his hairline, as he processed the information. Keith could tell that their fearless leader had no idea what to do in this situation. They all lapsed into an awkward silence.

“Well—“ Shiro started, before being cut of by Hunk.

“OH NO MY SPACE BROWNIES!!” Was yelled in absolute horror, as the yellow paladin ran back to the kitchen.

Pidge spoke next. “Well, I have to create a memory erasing device now. I’m glad you took my advice, but please keep it in your bedrooms. With that she turned on her heel, and left.

“And so there were three.” Shiro said, attempting to lighten the atmosphere. “Well,” He said, walking to Keith, and placing a hand on his shoulder, “I approve.”

Keith was speechless as his brother walked away.

He and Lance turned to look at each other, they shrugged simulations and broke out into laughter.

“Humm I think that makes 54.” Lance said with a fond smile.

Keith gave him a confused expression in return. Lance rolled his eyes, “Times I’ve made you laugh, Keith.”

“Oh,“ Keith narrowed his eyes, “ That one doesn’t count.”

“Yeah it does!” Lance countered.

“Fine.” He gave in with a sigh.

Lance let out a giggle, lightly tapping Keith’s nose, which made Keith playfully slap his hand away. Keith grabbed Lance by the waist, pulling him in for a kiss.

Keith had closed his eyes for the kiss, but instead of soft lips he felt a sharp pain on his forehead. His eyes snapped opened, one hand reaching to sooth his assaulted skin.

“Did you just flick me?”

“Yep. I don’t want a repeat of what just happened, so no kissing.”

Keith tried to hide his disappointment, but Lance noticed anyways.

“Here we can do this instead.” Lance cheerfully added, intertwining his fingers with Keith’s.

Keith squeezed their joined hands, smiling. “Yeah, this could work.”

Lance began running down the hall, pulling Keith along with him. “Come on, lets go get some of Hunk’s space brownies before they’re all gone!”

Keith caught up to Lance, and they ran down the hall together, still holding hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of the castle’s inhabitants crammed into the kitchen, eating Hunk’s glorious space brownies (that he had managed to save, just in the nick of time).

The small room had far too many people in it, but that didn’t bother a single one of them. Laughter and brownies filled the room, as they tried not to run into one another.

Keith felt Lance walk up next to him, as Coran captured the room’s attention with his extravagant tales. He turned to smile at Lance, taking his hand to hold at the same moment. Lance matched his grin, and Keith knew the smile on his face wasn’t disappearing any time soon.

In this moment of time Keith couldn’t think of a time where he’d ever felt happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that's the end! 
> 
> I really loved writing this fic, and I will definitely write more in the future!!! Please tell me if you enjoyed guys, feedback is really helpful to know what I need to work on. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading!!


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